


Catch me if you can

by CliffordAffliction



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Angst, Blowjobs, BoyxBoy, California, Calum is like a little fanboy, Calum just really looks up to Luke, Clemmings, FMX, Florida, I'll add more tags as this progresses, M/M, MX, Motocross, Muke - Freeform, Racing, Shower Sex, Smut, and has been watching him race on TV for years, desert riding, freestyle motocross, handjobs, its super cute, when don't my fics have angst?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-28
Updated: 2016-10-05
Packaged: 2018-05-16 19:20:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 58,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5837827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CliffordAffliction/pseuds/CliffordAffliction
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Luke was a Professional Motocross racer at the height of his career until a horrible crash put him out for the season. His family moves him to California where he thinks he will be able to just forget about his past but unfortunately it follows him there. Luke ends up meeting people there that slowly begin to bring him back to the thing that he was born to do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so! my new fic is a story about Motocross and Freestyle Motocross. I've been wanting to do a sports based fic for a while but Motocross is the only one I know anything about because I literally grew up around it. I understand that most people don't know much about either of these things and I'll continue it if you guys like it. I have 2 more chapters written after this but I wanna see how people react to it. If you have any questions about Motocross (MX) or Freestyle Motocross (FMX) just ask me in the comments. This chapter doesn't go too in dept with it quite yet but the others do. I hope you like it! If you want an idea of what Freestyle motocross and Motocross are you can watch this [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fYmMuqBz9c)

_Luke could feel his heartbeat pumping all over his body as he laid on the cold dirt and could hear a faint sound of panicking voices all around him but his entire body was in so much pain that he couldn’t pay attention to any of them for more than a few seconds. He was awake but everything was dark and he just couldn’t bring himself to open his eyes. He recognized one voice as his friend Cam but the rest of them were all a blur. He tried to focus on Cam’s voice for as long as possible until there was a wailing voice that seemed to be right next to his ear._

_“Luke! Tell me he is-“Luke felt another volt of pain shoot up from his tail bone all the way up to his neck and then all the voices around him went silent as the darkness seemed to bury him alive._

_*_

_When Luke woke up again the air around him seemed way different than before, more stuffy and he could make out the smell of latex gloves, the thing he was laying on top of was more padded this time so he knew he wasn’t on the ground and then the voices started to come back to him._

_“Tell me he is going to be okay!” the wailing voice from before was screaming close to this ear and this time he knew it was his mother. He could hear his father not too far away from him trying to calm her down and Luke started to open his eyes. Above him were blurry lights that seemed to have longs strips of white coming off of them and Luke knew it was just his eyes messing with him. The pain came back once again and this time he heard himself moan in pain as it shot all the way up his spine like it had before and he knew he was about to black out again._

_“Ma’am you have to stay back!” it was an older male that Luke didn’t recognize and he looked around again to see walls moving past him way faster than he liked and it made him want to shut his eyes again. The blurriness started to fade a bit and he could make out his mothers sobbing face next to him as she cried even more now that he was looking at her._

_“Luke you’re going to be okay. You’re going to be fine” even then Luke could tell that she was saying that to comfort herself more than him. Luke used all of his strength to look to look away from his mother and look back up the ceiling as the tiles above him zoomed by fast and the sound of wheels on the tile were hurting his ears. Everything was hurting and he just wanted it all to stop. He got a sick feeling in his stomach again and he knew the pain was coming back. This time he only felt the pain for a few seconds before he was blacking out again and everything started to feel peaceful._

*

“Lucas would you please go help your father with the last of the boxes?” Luke rolled his eyes a bit at her annoyed tone. She was acting as if Luke hadn’t attempted to help at all since they got here which wasn’t true at all. When they were back in Florida he was the one who did most of the packing and also the one who put most of the boxes in the moving vans. Luke got up off the couch and back into the humid air as he seen his dad walking up the sidewalk with two large boxes.

“I can get one of these, Dad” Luke said reaching out but his dad was shaking his head and nodding off towards the moving van in the driveway.

“Just get that last box in the van and take it up to your room” Luke thought that he got all of his boxes up to his room a few hours ago but turns out he was wrong. He jogged to the back of the van, eager to see what box he had left behind, and let out a breath when he seen which one it was. The large box was filled right up to the top with bubble wrapped trophies and Luke knew that his dad was the one who made sure they stayed in such good condition. These days it felt like his dad was more proud of them than he was and if it was up to Luke he would have just thrown all of them out. He unwrapped one of them and it happened to be the one that he hated the most out of all of them. Printed in black lettering on a gold colored background it read “Glen Helen National” and Luke cringed as he could still vividly picture every turn, steep hill and table top of the entire track. It was from two summers ago back when he thought that he had that entire track wired in and he thought that he was invincible. He hated knowing that Glen Helen wasn’t too far from where he was right now and he ran his fingers across the shiny bike that was placed at the top of the trophy then wrapped it back in bubble wrap. The sun was beating down hard and he already started to miss the humid heat back in Florida. He wasn’t used to this dry sort of heat that was making him feel like his throat was literally closing.

When he got back into the air conditioned house he walked up the stairs as he heard his parents talking in the kitchen about how brown everyone’s grass was on this street. It was all about “Keeping up with the Joneses” with his mother and Luke got pretty sick of it. She was always trying to keep her lawn and house looking better than everyone else’s and Christmas was always an absolute nightmare because his mom insisted on having the most lights on their house than anyone else on the street. Thankfully it was February so Luke wouldn’t have to deal with that for a while. Luke’s dad was the same way except it was more about keeping a good reputation and making sure to always stay a step ahead of everyone else. Luke walked into his bedroom where his plain mattress was laying against his navy colored wooden bed frame and that rest of the room was filled with boxes.

He eyed the room before seeing a walk in closet across from the window overlooking the backyard. Luke made sure to stuff the box way in the back of the closet so he wouldn’t have to look at his past accomplishments any longer. They just reminded him of a life he no longer had and he just hoped that California would be a brand new start for him. He didn’t want to have to think about who he used to be and how his life used to be back then. The sun was just starting to go down and Luke sat on the edge of the bed before falling back against it. He could see the tall palm trees above people’s houses as he looked out the window and the San Gabriel mountains in the distance were the thing that reminded Luke the most that he was no longer in Florida. Luke couldn’t help but feel irritated as he heard soft footsteps coming up the stairs. He knew his mom was coming up to talk to him and he really didn’t want to hear it right now…or ever.

“Luke” in the corner of his eye he could now see her leaning against the doorway and he just slightly turned his head but still kept his eyes on the wall opposite of him “How are you doing?” it was such a simple question but Luke new his mother was trying to get something else out of him.

“Fine” Luke mumbled and started playing with the hem of his shirt.

“I know this move isn’t what’s causing you to be depressed” Luke grunted at the word but his mother continued “I know what caused it but have you ever thought about changing things? Maybe slowly trying to get yourself back to doing things that you used to do” Luke knew that she was talking about one thing in particular but he wanted to hear her say it.

“What are you trying to say?” Luke said with some heat behind it. He just couldn’t believe that his family was trying to pressure him into going back to the lifestyle that almost killed him. It was too close of a call and a few weeks after it happened Luke realized that it just wasn’t worth it anymore. He had to walk away from it.

“I’m talking about getting back on your bike” she said with a stern voice and Luke looked at her while tensing up his jaw then looked away, hoping that was a good enough answer for her to just leave him alone and just drop the topic all together.

“Did Dad tell you to come up here?” Luke sat up and his mother was automatically shaking her head.

“No Luke” she said softly and started to walk into the room but stopped a foot away from his bed “We’re just worried about you. Don’t you miss it?”

“No” Luke lied. There was a part of him that missed it but fear was overtaking that feeling making him never even want to go near his bike ever again. His mother let out a breath and tucked her hair behind her ears.

“We just don’t want you feeling like this anymore. Riding was such a big part of your life and now that it’s gone you just look so…empty” Luke hated how true that statement was. He did feel empty but he had no want or energy to try and fix it. There wasn’t any point and he wasn’t even sure if he could get on a bike again without remembering everything about the accident.

“I’ll be fine…I don’t need it anymore” Luke looked at her like he was dead serious but it was all a lie and she knew it. She opened her mouth a few times like she wanted to say more but instead just forced a weak smile and left the room. Luke's vibrating phone was what knocked him out of the trance he was in as he stared at the empty hallway where his mom had just been and felt himself feeling a little happier when he seen who it was from.

(From:Cam) 

_How’s Cali brah?_

(From:Luke) 

_Come get me_

Luke knew that wasn’t realistic but he just really wanted to leave already. He missed the ocean and the beach and nice green grass. This just wasn’t his home.

(From:Cam) 

_That bad huh? I have a feeling you’ll grow to like it bud_

(From:Luke) 

_No I won’t its awful and I can’t even breathe when I step outside cause it’s so fucking hot_

(From:Cam) 

_I’ll be out there in May…think you can hold on until then?_

  
Cam didn’t have to tell Luke the reason why he would be in California in May, he knew. They both had been going out to California every May for years and back then Luke actually liked visiting California. He liked the tracks they raced at but now that this was his permanent home it was all a little much. It was just such a big change.

(From:Luke) 

_Possibly_

(From:Cam)

_Alright I’m gonna hold you to that. I miss youuuuuu_

  
Luke knew that Cam was doing something stupid like making kissy faces but he smiled at the thought of it. He missed his best friend terribly. Cam was the one that stayed in Luke’s house all summer with him the year he got hurt. Cam still had to finish the season so he had races nearly every weekend until the end of August but he still made sure to come over to Luke’s house on his down time. Even though Luke hated the thought of anything to do with racing he always made sure to watch the races on TV to see how Cam did and he killed it like he always did. Even back when Luke was at the height of his career he always felt like Cam was a better racer than him. There was just always something in the back of Luke’s mind telling him that luck was the main factor in his winnings. Cam was just one of those natural born racers and Luke still feels bad that his best friend didn’t finish the race at Glen Helen because he wanted to go to the hospital with Luke. Cam literally quit the race halfway through just to make sure Luke was okay and Luke doesn’t think he can ever thank him enough for that. Luke's mom ended up telling him that Cam was the first one to be by his side when his bike went down but he knows that Cam would have won that race that day if it wasn’t for Luke crashing.

(From:Luke) 

_I miss you too man_

Luke let his phone fall from his hand and onto the bed as he looked up at the ceiling wishing that he was somewhere else entirely.

  
*

The next morning Luke woke up the sound of the front door slamming shut and then the house went completely silent. He remembers being half awake a few hours ago while hearing muffled voices downstairs but now they were gone and Luke figured he had the whole house to himself. Luckily it was Saturday so he didn’t have to start at his new school until Monday but Luke was still dreading it. He had gone to school in Clearwater his entire life so he knew it would be a big change when he started at a brand new school all the way across the country. He walked down stairs in only his black basketball shorts after taking a short shower just to cool off. He knew the air conditioning was on but sometimes even looking outside he could see how hot it was and it made him actually feel the heat. He realized he assumed right when he looked at the fridge and seen a note that said: _Be home at 6. Also at some point today could you pick up some milk?_ Luke let out a sigh because that meant having to leave the house. Not to mention that he was in an entirely new city and he had no idea where anything was at. Luke brushed the thought from his head and figured that if he ended up forgetting it wouldn’t really matter and they would just have to live without milk for another day.

Luke popped a few slices of bread in the toaster before he walked back to the fridge to grab butter and the strawberry jelly before leaning against the counter and waiting for his toast to pop. Luke got scared for second at that moment and realized that from now on this would be his life. Last year he would have made a quick fruit smoothie then he would instantly be going out in the garage to get on his bike. Of course back then they had a track that was in their back yard and now Luke wasn’t even sure where the closest track was but it didn’t matter. Instead his life would be getting breakfast and then watching TV for the rest of the day. Maybe finally getting to relax for once in his life would be good for him. He was having a hard time remembering a time in his life when he wasn’t practicing before the season started or rushing off to some race. Maybe this is what Luke needed. Luke quickly got his toast ready and took a few bites as he walked on the cold tile floor. He stopped right in front of the walk-in foot pantry and smiled to himself before setting his toast down on the counter and stepping into the pantry to gaze at all the snack food above him.

Back when he was racing his dad never allowed him to eat junk food because he had to stay in shape but now he there was no reason that he had to keep himself away from this type of food. He grabbed the large bag of Cheetos on the top shelf and continued to grab the Fruit Roll-Up’s, a box of chocolate chip cookies and BBQ potato chips. He looked at his toast on the counter and just tossed it in the garbage and walked into the living room feeling like he could easily do this every day. He flicked the TV on and it already happened to be on Comedy Central so he kept it on there and starting taking turns eating each of the different kind of junk food he grabbed. Luke thought he was imagining the noise when the sound of a knock came from the door so he just turned the TV up louder and sat back in the couch once again. The knocking happened two more times and Luke groaned before letting the Fruit Roll Up hang out of his mouth like some long tongue and he peered through the window in the living room. There wasn’t a car in the driveway which made Luke feel like it wasn’t anyone that important but the knocking continued and Luke knew the only way to enjoy TV in peace was to just answer it and get rid of whoever was at the door. He rubbed a hand over his face as he walked over to the door with the strip of fruit still hanging from his mouth, as he would occasionally bite at it, and then he was opening the door to see a boy with dark hair. The boy had a look on his face like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing and Luke raised his eyebrows.

“Uh…what?” Luke knew there was a nicer way to go about answering the door but he just wasn’t in the mood right now.

“You’re my neighbor?” the boys voice was deeper than what Luke was expecting judging from his literal puppy dog eyes and just overall innocent vibe.

“I don’t know…am I?” Luke was still utterly confused and the boy just laughed and shook his head.

“I had heard you were in town but I had no idea that you had actually moved in…this is fucking insane” Luke just narrowed his eyes and leaned against the doorway chewing on his snack.

“Okay but who said I was in town?” Luke suddenly asked. He didn’t think anyone knew him around here.

“Umm everybody….A Professional Motocross racer is in town so you can bet your ass that people are going to talk about it” Luke gulped and tried to seem unaffected by his past being brought up and just shook his head but apparently the boy wasn’t finished “When you raced in Washington last summer I was there and Jesus Christ I’ve never seen anyone race like the way you did that day. I was right by the finish line when you finished that final lap man and-“ the boy took a deep breath and for a second Luke thought he was going to pass out “You’re just phenomenal man…I can’t believe you’re standing in front of me right now”

“Yeah umm….” Luke looked down and rubbed the back of his neck “Well thanks” he was never good at taking compliments and he especially felt uncomfortable taking them now.

“You were probably busy like working on your bike or something weren’t you? Shit I shouldn’t have just came over but I figured I would just see who my new neighbor is…I never would have imagined in a million years that it would be you” the boy laughed and Luke forced a slight smile before shaking his head.

“No I was actually just watching TV and eating breakfast….” Luke said dryly as he glanced back in the house and the boy looked surprised.

“But aren’t you planning on going up to the track?...it’s only a few miles away from here” the boy seemed so small and Luke kind of hated having to let him down.

“Nope..not going to the track” he crossed his arms over his bare chest and looked past the boy as a car drove by.

“You aren’t-“

“Listen I don’t think you know me as well as you’re claiming to because if you did you would know that I haven’t even gotten on a bike since Glen Helen last summer” just saying the name of the track caused Luke to flinch and he hoped the other boy didn’t see it.

“You were so good though and-“

“Key word ‘were’” Luke said coldly as he straightened up again and grabbed a hold of the door “I appreciate you being a fan and all but that part of my life is over”

“Over?”

“Over” Luke said sternly while widening his eyes and starting to close the door “Take it easy, man” he said casually before shutting the door without another word or glance at the boy. As soon as Luke got on the couch again he started to get worried that people coming up to him like that would be a regular thing once he started school and he knows that he would go insane if that started to happen on a daily basis. Instead of thinking about it more he dug his hand into the bag of Cheetos and continued pigging out like he was before. It was something he could worry about later.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm already adding another chapter because the first chapter was so lame but I just had to explain what was going on. If you haven't guessed already in the beginning of each chapter the italics are explaining what happened after Luke's accident. I hope you like this chapter a bit better (Chapter 3 is even better cause Michael officially gets introduced) and let me know in the comments cause I feed off of them! I do use motocross lingo in this so if you have questions just let me know.

_Luke woke up but this time was a lot different than the other times he had woken up. This time it was slightly easier to open his eyes and the excruciating pain was gone now and all he could feel was soreness throughout his body. It almost didn’t feel like he was in pain at all when he remembered how much pain he was in before. Luke gripped the railing beside his head and tried to push up a little. He didn’t know why but he was just so tired of having to lay down. When he tried to push forward it was then that he realized that he had no feeling in his back. That scared him to death because before he could literally feel everything in his back and now there was just nothing. Luke took a few deep breaths and tried to sit up again but still nothing. He let out a groan and looked up to the lights to see that they were no longer moving. He then started to glance around and noticed that he wasn’t in the hallway anymore and instead was in a small room where the sun was creeping in through the curtains. If he wasn’t scared out his mind and confused as to what was going on the room would actually be comforting. He wish he could feel what it was like to be calm and comforted again. Suddenly what had happened had come to him all at once; the crashing into the top of the hill, the shoot of pain up his back until he had fallen off his bike and onto the dirt. He could remember everything going black and silent but then voices started to crowd around him but he couldn’t focus on any of them. He had been in a crash, that was obvious now but he had been in dozens of crashes before and nothing of this sort has ever happened. He just wished that someone would come in the room and describe everything to him so he could stop driving himself insane; either that or he wished he could just fall back to sleep. It was then that the door was opening and Luke moved his eyes to see his mother walking in through the door but when she seen that his eyes were open she ran inside and dropped her food on the table against the wall._

_“_ _Oh Luke! You’re awake…oh thank god” she rushed over to him and sat next to him on the bed as she let her head fall to his chest. Luke laid there motionless and just stared at her head below him and started to wonder how long exactly he had been asleep? His mother was acting as if it had been months since he was awake and that thought scared him more than anything. Her head started to move and Luke could hear snuffles and it was only then that he lifted his hand up to rest it on her hair “Oh Lukey” she said instantly. She started to cry more hysterically and Luke was becoming more confused by the moment “We were so worried baby” she sat up fast and Luke jumped a little at the sudden movement “Do you hurt? Are you in pain?’ she began frantically moving her hands all over his chest and Luke just shook his head. Sure he was sore but it was nothing compared to how he was before. For the longest time his mother just stared at him, while wiping her eyes. It was like she couldn’t believe that her son was staring back at her. “Can you talk to me baby?” Luke looked around the room a few times as he felt his head beginning to hurt. He guessed it was all this extra noise but he couldn’t just tell his mother to leave._

_“I’m fine” Luke hated how weak his voice sounded when he spoke and he shut his eyes for a few seconds as he cleared his throat._

_“You’re so strong, Luke” she ran a hand through his hair and it’s the closest he’s felt to comforted in what seemed like years “I knew you’d make it through this. I knew you would” Luke felt like she was kind of lying out of her ass at that point judging how fast she ran over to him when she seen his eyes opened. She acted way too surprised when she seen that he was awake and Luke started to wonder if his family really thought he was going to die._

_“_ _How long…” Luke started to cough and his mother instantly acted like it was the end of the world as she sat his head forward and held his hand “How long have I been asleep?” Luke watched his mother take a deep breath and he was getting more scared as the seconds passed._

 _“_ _You’ve been in out and of consciousness for a couple of days, Luke” Luke felt a little relieved at that. Sure he had never slept for several days before but it was way better than having her tell him that he had been asleep for a couple of months. A lot can happen in a couple of months and Luke didn’t want to miss anything._

_“But..but why?” Luke knew he was in a crash but he wanted to know what exactly his injuries were._

_“_ _Oh honey…we’ll talk about that later. Right now you just need to rest” Luke narrowed his eyes at her and she looked shocked but he didn’t want to sleep. He had gotten more than enough rest._

_“No…” Luke shook his head but instantly regretted it when his neck felt like a million pounds “Wanna talk about it now” his mother looked skeptical of the idea of talking about it right his second but it was driving Luke crazy. He was just fed up with not knowing what was going on and he hoped she understood that._

_“Okay, Luke” she let out a breath “I’ll call your doctor in here”_

*

“You look great, honey” his mother said reaching out for the hundredth time to fix Luke’s hair but this time he dodged the movement and walked around her.

“You’re acting like it’s my first day at Kindergarten. Can you just give me some space?” Luke gave her a serious look and waited until she began to nod before he walked into the food pantry. He unwrapped a Pop Tart and began eating it once he stepped into the kitchen. He knew his mother would comment on his poor diet as soon as he felt her eyes on him.

“That’s what you’re having for breakfast?” she said blandly.

“Yup. Why not?” he shrugged and started to make his way into the living room. He put his wallet in his back pocket before looking back to his worried mother in the doorway “I’ll be fine, mom” he sighed and she just smiled.

“It’s just that you’ve never been to a new school…it’s a great school though”

“I’m sure it is” Luke said sarcastically but his mom didn’t catch it. He started to walk towards the front door without another word.

“Have a good day sweetie!” Luke just nodded before grabbing his keys and walking out the door. The truth was that he was a little nervous about today. He had never really been anywhere where literally nobody knew who he was and he honestly wasn’t sure how he would handle it.

*

The drive over to the school luckily was as easy as his mother made it seem and it was only a few miles away. When he pulled up to the school he thought it was strange how instead of being one big building, like he was used to, it was a bunch of smaller buildings around the campus. He had a feeling he would easily get confused on what building to go to for each class but brushed that feeling off and quickly parked his car in the far parking lot. He watched as a crowd of kids started making their way up the sidewalk and he glanced down at the clock to see that it was only five minutes until 8:00, when school started, and he still had to go to the office to get his schedule. Luke started to think of Cam at that moment and his other friends back in Florida and he wished that he was back with them instead of here. Back in Clear Water he just had everything figured out and he never had to worry about anything but here he didn’t even know who he was anymore and it scared him to death. Soon a bell was going off and Luke jumped a little before letting out a breath and jumping out of the car. He hated how the air here was always so stuffy to the point where it was actually difficult to breath. He guessed that it would just have to be a thing he got used to.

*

Luke ended up searching half of the campus before he finally found the Main Office and he realized that he had walked past it about three different times. He glanced down at his phone to see that it was now 8:15 and walked fast into the small cement building. Thankfully the AC was on when he walked in and prayed that all the classrooms were the same way. He didn’t know if he could handle roasting to death all day in a small classroom. There was a small dark skinned woman sitting behind the desk who instantly looked up when she heard Luke’s footsteps.

“How can I help you sir?” her voice was soft and quiet and Luke relaxed a little.

“I’m Luke…I’m new and they said I was supposed to come here for my schedule”

“Oh! Luke Hemmings right?” she smiled and Luke nodded “Well I happen to have your schedule right in front of me” she looked down and started ruffling through a few papers before she was handing one over to Luke. Luke skimmed it over and was immediately confused.

“I only have 4 classes?”

“Yes and they are each two hours long” Luke instantly groaned and he seen the lady smiling.

“You’ll get used to it after a while. Would you like me to show you to your first class?” Luke was already nodding because he knew he would have a hard time finding it since he could barely even find the main office.

“I mean if it’s not much trouble” he said quickly but she was already standing up and walking around the desk.

“It’s no problem. I know finding your way around this campus can be confusing and I’m sure other students will have no problem showing you around as well” Luke just nodded and followed her out of the building and back into the scorching heat. He didn’t understand how it could be this hot so early in the morning. When they walked into the classroom Luke immediately felt like every pair of eyes in the room was pointed right at him and he instead just looked to the teacher.

“Mr. Hunnicut this is Luke…he’s our new transfer from Florida” the office lady spoke softly again and the teacher smiling wide but Luke felt like he was one of those teachers that would go back to being a total asshole as soon as the other adult was out of the room.

“Welcome, Luke” he gave Luke a few more seconds of his time then focused on looking around the room “You can go have a seat next to Miles in the back” Luke looked to where he was pointing then glanced back at the lady before she smiled and he was making his way towards the back of the classroom. He could still feel too many eyes on him but they seemed to fade as he got closer to his seat. The boy he was assigned to sit next to still didn’t look up from his book as Luke sat down but Luke was okay with it because he really didn’t need any more attention “So, Luke” Luke was surprised that the teacher was still wanting to talk to him “What part of Florida are you from?” there were a few heads turning around to look at him.

“Clearwater” Luke said as he started to run a hand through his hair, it was a nervous habit. He glanced to the left to see two girls smiling wide at him and he instantly stopped messing with his hair to look back at the teacher.  
“Well it’s a pleasure to have you here with us” Luke could tell how fake his voice was but forced a smile anyways “Now back to the lesson…” Luke zoned out after that and just started looking at the back of everyone’s heads instead like he could figure them all out with just simple look. He only snapped out of it when he felt a pair of eyes on him but this time when he looked to see who was staring at him it sent a chill down is spine. A pale boy with brownish red hair and eyes that were exactly the same color was staring straight at him with an obvious glare and Luke felt like the boy knew him. Luke just raised his eyebrows and then the kid was rolling his eyes away. This school was already starting to freak him out.

*

By the time lunch came around Luke was already starting to hate the fact that each of his classes were two hours long. It was just too long to be sitting down in the same classroom and it had started to drive him insane. He knew he only had two more classes left after lunch but if they went by as slow as the others did then he might end up jumping out the window and begging his mom to just home school him. Luke was now sitting on one of the colored round tables under a shade tree, enjoying his pizza when a tray was being set on the table and he whipped his head up. Luke recognized the boy right away and instantly went back to eating.

“Listen” the dark hair boy began “I think we got off to the to the wrong foot the other day”

“You think?” Luke said harshly, looking the boy in the eye before taking a drink of his soda.

“Yeah….” The boy seemed small and innocent again and Luke remembered how excited the boy was to see him when he opened his front door that day “Can I sit down?”

“Sure” Luke mumbled.

“I’m Calum…by the way” He reached out a hand and Luke started at it for a few seconds before shaking it. It wasn’t that Luke hated this kid, it was just that Calum reminded him of his past and he really didn’t like thinking about it more than he already did “How do you like the school so far?”

“It’s gonna take some getting used to” Luke looked up to see Calum smiling brightly at him and he realized it was because for once he wasn’t giving this kid any attitude and actually talking normal to him. Luke started to feel bad for treating him like he has been “It’s just really hard for me to find my way around”

“Maybe I can help you out. Can I see your schedule?” Luke nodded and grabbed it out of his pocket, handing it over the table. He watched Calum scan his eyes over it then smile “Okay your next class is the third building down in that row over there” Calum pointed to the right of them “And your last class is Art, which I also happen to be in, and for that building you’ll just want to go straight back until you hit that last building then turn right and it’s the round building” Luke turned to see where he was pointing.

“Alright. Seems easy enough” they both started eating their lunch in silence for a couple of minutes after that until Luke took a double look and seen Calum with a worried look on his face as he was focused on something across the courtyard. Suddenly Calum looked straight up terrified then he quickly went back to eating. Luke decided not to say anything about it and guessed that if it was really that important that Calum would bring it up…he was right.

“Do you know Brandon Rissler?” Calum looked curiously up at him.

“No” Luke shook his head right away. The name wasn’t ringing any bells but he’s met quite a lot of people “I mean I don’t think so”

“Well he seems to know you” Calum said with a slight smile. He nodded over to the left of them and Luke looked to where he had pointed. Surely enough it was the kid from his first two classes who kept shooting him dirty looks.

“Yeah he’s been looking like he wants to kill me all day and he seems to be everywhere” Luke said slightly annoyed “I thought this was a big school so I don’t get why I keep running into him”

“I don’t mean to bring up racing again but he used to race….” Calum paused like he thought that Luke would suddenly remember him but Luke just shrugged “Maybe you did something to piss him off at one of the tracks but you just don’t remember it” Calum said it so casually but Luke really didn’t like what he was implying.

“What’re you saying?” Luke laughed a little, like what Calum was saying was the most ridiculous thing ever “Are you saying I race dirty?”

“Maybe” Calum did a sly little grin and for some reason Luke liked that the shy fanboy, you might call it, personality that he had before was gone “I’ve seen you do it once or twice….” Calum laughed “Or three times”

“Bullshit” Luke rolled his eyes and he could still feel Brandon’s glare on him. He looked back to Calum to see him smiling in a cocky way and raising his eyebrows

“Fine. You got evidence?”

“As a matter of fact…” Calum chuckled and started flipping through something on his phone “RedBud in 2013” Calum said sitting forward and putting the screen of his phone so that Luke could see it.

“Yeah I remember it” Luke shrugged. He remembers that was the race he had a bet going on with Cam that he could have the best time for the first lap. Cam ended up having to fork over $30 bucks after the race and Luke smiled “Nothing out of the ordinary happened”

“Just…” Calum put a hand up and grinned “Just watch” Luke looked down the video and he was immediately able to spot himself on his old Kawasaki bike. He was rounding the corner with a KTM right on his tail where ever he went and Luke was now remembering that it was a fairly close race with that KTM only a few feet away from him when he went over the finish line for the final time. Luke was about to look away feeling like he didn’t want to watch it anymore but then he seen him and the other rider were coming up to a sharp turn and Luke flinched a bit when his video self was seeming like he was going to go off the track then he was briefly running his bike into the KTM and driving him entirely off the track. Luke froze because he didn’t remember that happening at all until now. Luke quickly wiped off the surprised and somewhat ashamed look on his face once Calum stopped the video and he knew the boy would be focusing on him again “You wanna tell me that wasn’t dirty racing?”

“Well what the hell was I supposed to do? The kid was on the my tail the entire race, Calum”

“I’m just saying that the chance that you might have done the same thing to Brandon in the past isn’t so unlikely” Calum briefly looked over to him “And I can tell you right now…Brandon hates losing”

“Doesn’t everybody?” Luke said like it was obvious but Calum just smiled and shook his head and Luke paused for a moment “You don’t win by always playing by the rules”

“Aha!” Calum pointed at him “So you admit it? You race dirty”

“So fucking what. Everyone has done it at some point” Luke glanced over and now Brandon was busying himself with talking to a blue haired kid across from him...Blue hair. Luke looked back to see the kid taking big gulps of his energy drink and Luke felt himself zoning out on him for a few seconds before he realized Calum was looking at him “Alright…are we done with this trip down memory lane?”

“For now” Calum grinned and Luke shook his head trying not to smile.

*

Luke found his 3rd class pretty easily and now he was trying to remember where Calum told him his art room was. He was standing in the now empty courtyard that they had been having lunch in a few hours prior. He spun around in a circle a couple of times then found the table they were sitting at and looked straight behind it. He began walking where Calum had told him to and luckily he found the building that said “Room 24”. Unfortunately the final bell was ringing just as he was about to open the front doors and he opened them to once again find all eyes on him. He prayed to god that this wouldn’t be a regular thing that happened. He scanned the room and seen Calum doodling something on the table way in the back of the large room. Calum smiled when he seen Luke and Luke did a quick one back to him before walking over to him. This room was bigger than the ones he had been to before. It had high ceilings with a balcony going all around it but judging by the hundreds of boxes up there he guessed that it was merely for storage. In the corner of his eye Luke could now feel only one person looking at him as he sat down and if he was right the boy had a smile on his face but Luke didn’t look to find out.

“Please tell me this teacher is a total saint. I don’t think I can handle dealing with another shitty one” Luke complained and Calum just smiled. Calum smiled a lot, Luke was noticing.

“We’ve got a sub today but yeah Ms. Frye is really cool” Luke looked back to the desk to see the teacher just leaning back in his chair reading a book. Luke felt relieved knowing that he was one of those subs who just didn’t care what anyone did as long as no one was killed. Unfortunately his luck had run out when Luke seen some wavy haired kid walking towards him with a huge grin on his face. Luke let out a breath and looked back to Calum.

“Who the hell is that?” he whispered as he groaned. Calum’s smile instantly faded when he looked up and it scared Luke to death. Calum looked stunned for a few seconds then the boy was in front of them and Calum didn’t have time to answer Luke’s question.

“Luke fucking Hemmings” the boy was still just a smiling away as he crossed his arms and Luke attempted to smile back.

“Umm…hi?” Luke tried to act friendly but it was hard when he had no clue who this guy was. He began to wonder how many more times today would he feel uncomfortable.

“Ashton Irwin” he reached out a hand and Luke shook it. “I never thought you’d leave Florida” the kid said with a chuckle and Luke found himself laughing as well.

“Yeah me either” Ashton laughed at that again and leaned against the table that was behind him.

“You probably don’t remember but we raced together back in 2014 in Tennessee” Luke looked to the floor for a few seconds trying to rack his brain for memories of that day and he finally came up with one.

“Didn’t you…” he smiled “Didn’t you end up getting knocked off your bike on the last lap but you still managed to win 2nd place?” Luke knew his assumption was right when Ashton started nodding as he laughed.

“Yeah man…that’s right”

“That was a hell of a race” Luke said actually sounding sincere for like the first time all day.

“It wasn’t first place though was it?” Ashton smiled and for some reason this kid reminded Luke of the kids he used to be friends with back in Florida.

“Well…” Luke blushed a little remembering accepting his trophy on the podium “You probably would have beaten me if it weren’t for that asshole running into you” Luke knew how hypocritical he sounded right now and he looked back to see Calum rolling his eyes a bit. Luke bit his lip and looked back to Ashton.

“Yeah I don’t know about that…” Ashton looked off into the distance like he was thinking about something “You busy tonight, Hemmings?”

“No” Luke shrugged “I don’t think so”

“If you’re interested….I can show you something that I know someone like you will appreciate” Luke knew straight away that Ashton was talking about something to do with dirt bikes and even thought he had been trying to get away from that kind of stuff he knew he shouldn’t exactly turn down a chance to make another friend, especially someone who had so much in common with him.

“Alright” as soon as he agreed he heard Calum let out a sigh of annoyance next to him but he brushed it off “I’m down” Ashton then went on to tell Luke that he would pick him up right after school and Luke wrote down his address before Ashton was walking back to his table across the classroom. Luke smiled to himself for a few seconds then realized he had to find out what Calum’s problem was “Okay what’s your deal, Calum?” Luke said in a playful voice but Calum glared at him.

“Ashton isn’t the person you want to be hanging out with”

“Yeah? Why not?”

“He’s an asshole” Calum said slightly louder than before.

“Please elaborate” Luke put his chin in his hand and acted over excited to hear what Calum was going to say.

“He treated me like shit all through middle school and he still does any chance he gets. I literally used to go home with bruises every day because of him” Calum snapped and Luke looked back at Ashton to still see him just a smiling away.

“Well he seemed to be acting okay around you a few seconds ago”

“Yeah that’s only because he’s sucking up to you” Calum deadpanned and Luke just shrugged.

“He seemed fine to me” and Calum instantly scoffed at that “Besides…I’m really in no position to be turning down friends at this point”

“Whatever” Calum went back to drawing but it was obvious that he was still pissed at Luke “Do what you want” and Luke started to feel a little bad.

“I’m not just gonna ditch you because I’m hanging out with him”

“Just don’t say I didn’t warn you” Calum breathed out and Luke just nodded as he looked back to Ashton once more. What could possibly go wrong?


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the chapter I've been waiting to show you guys so I hope you love it! Luke's injury is based off of Travis Pastrana's that he got into in 1999 and you can watch the video [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFAHSsfoy6c) but I advise you not to watch it if you don't like seeing crashes or people in pain. Michael's riding style is based off of Levi Sherwood and you can see a video of him [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIyaPr3F0Ws) Levi has been my favorite freestyle rider since I was 16 and he's fucking amazing so if you watch the video it will be easier to picture what Michael looks like when Luke is watching him ride. I'm talking too much lmao let me know how you like it! (also one more thing: I'm going to put links in this chapter of videos that show what each trick is since I'm sure most of you don't know what they are) You can follow me on tumblr if you want: Clifford-affliction. I hope that reading this fic will get at least a few of you into Motocross or Freestyle Motocross because they really are awesome sports.

_Luke sat there impatiently as his mother kept trying to talk to him but he was blocking it out. The only person he wanted to hear talking was the doctor telling him what the hell was going on with him and why had he been in so much pain before. It seemed like hours had passed before the doctor was finally coming in through the door. He was a tall man with thinning hair and his glasses clipped to the front of his white jacket._

_“_ _Hello Luke” he said without smiling and Luke knew he was one of those doctors who meant strictly business and showed barely any emotion “How are you feeling?”_

_“My back hurts…not as bad as before though”_

_“Well I expect that it will be hurting for a while. Only 3 other people have survived the injury you had”_

_“What?” Luke widened his eyes. No wonder his mother had been so worried about him. He had barely cheated death._

_“Well…let me explain” the doctor sat down in the chair next to him._

_“Please do” Luke said with a slight attitude. He was just sick of not knowing what was going on and he wanted to get to the bottom of this._

_“Do you remember the crash?” the doctor raised his eyebrows._

_“_ _A little” Luke was lying. He didn’t remember any of it. All he remembered was being high in the air thinking he was going to clear the jump like he always did and the next thing he knew he was on the ground and everything went black around him._

_“Well you fell short on the jump so that your bike went straight into the top of the hill. You went from full speed to 0 MPH in under a second” Luke flinched and suddenly it was starting to come back to him. He didn’t know why but when he was in the air still he hit the throttle and that was when everything started to go wrong. He remembers how hard he smashed into the ground and how in an instantly he couldn’t feel or hear anything. He only snapped back into it when he was on the ground but even then it was still dark and he could only hear voices._

_“Okay but what’s my injury?” Luke didn’t want to hear the doctor talking about how the accident happened any longer. He knew he would be thinking about it enough._

_“You hit the ground with such force that it drove your spine downward” Luke closed his eyes at how horrific It all sounded and now he knew why he was in such pain when he was being wheeled through the hospital halls. It all made sense now “So a short way of explaining it would be to call it a ‘Dislocated Spine’”_

_“But they fixed it…right? I can ride again?” Luke shot out quickly but he looked over to see his mother shaking her head and seeming like she was going to start crying again._

_“They fixed it..yes. You now have two titanium screws in your pelvis but Luke…” the doctor paused and Luke started to panic “You’ll be able to walk again but not for a couple of months. You’ll be in a wheel chair until you’re fully healed”_

_“_ _But the season…” Luke’s panic had now turned to anger “I have to finish the season. I have to a race in Colorado next weekend” Luke was practically shouting and he could tell how torn up he was making his mother but he just couldn’t stop._

_“Luke” the doctor was being very stern with him “You have a very serious injury. You’re lucky that you’re even alive right now. Next season you could race as long as it’s okay with your parents but there is no way you’ll be racing this summer” Luke was getting angrier by the second and he was about to go off again but then he took a double look to see his father standing in the doorway with his arms crossed._

_“Dad…” Luke said weakly “Dad tell him…” Luke said nodding to the doctor “Tell him I have to race this season. I have to fucking race”_

_“Luke stop” his dad raised his voice and it had everyone looking at him. His dad has never spoken to him like that before and Luke cringed and just wanted to be away from all of this “You aren’t racing…at least not this season” Luke gritted his teeth and let his head fall back into the bed as he felt his mother grabbing his hand. He really needed the comfort right now so he held back onto her hand just as tight._

_“When can I go home?” Luke had calmed down by now and he was speaking softer as he kept looking around at everyone._

_“You can go home tomorrow” the doctor finally said and Luke let out a breath “We just have to run a few more tests in the morning then you can be released” Luke nodded and looked over to see his mother smiling at him like it was the best news ever. Sure he was happy that he could go home but the only news he wanted to be hearing was that he could finish the season. Everything else was just irrelevant to him to right now. Luke watched the doctor sending him a sympathetic smile then he was leaving along with Luke’s father. Luke didn’t expect his father to baby him like his mother was doing but a simple “Are you doing alright?” would have been fine but his dad didn’t even do that. Luke had been out for a week so for all he knows his father could have been there the whole time but Luke highly doubts it._

_“Would you like to see Cam?” his mother said and Luke could feel himself smiling._

_“Cam’s here?”_

_“He’s barely even left the hospital since you got here. The only time he went back to the hotel was when I told him to go and get some sleep. He’s been very worried about you”_

_“Yeah…I wanna see him” Luke said softly and he didn’t know why but he felt like he was close to crying and it had been the first time since he woke up that he felt this close to tear. His mother began to stand up and Luke could tell she wanted to say more._

_“He was the first person to be by your side when you crashed” she put a hand over her mouth and Luke knew she was remembering it all. He wished she was closer so he could reach out to her “But I’ll…I’ll send him in” she quickly left the room and Luke stared at the empty doorway. He just wanted to go home._

*

Luke was eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich when he saw a black Dodge truck pull up in his driveway and he knew it was Ashton when he beeped a few times. Luke smiled and grabbed his sunglasses off the counter before walking out the door. As he got outside he stopped a little when he seen a Honda bike strapped down in the back. Luke seen this coming and he knew he would be okay as long as no one tried to get him to ride. It would be even hard for him to be around bikes right now and he even considered telling Ashton that he couldn’t go anymore but he found himself already walking towards the passenger side of the truck. Luke hopped up in it and Ashton was eyeing him.

“You alright?” he questioned and Luke realized he probably looked a bit pale for being so worked up about all of this.

“Yeah” Luke said quickly “Where are we going?”

“You’ll see” was all Ashton said back and Luke slumped down in his seat as Ashton turned the radio on to some rock station. As soon as they were out of town the only thing ahead of them was pure desert and Luke was starting to get a bit uncomfortable. He never understood why but being in the middle of nowhere like this always freaked him out a bit and the desert in front of him just looked so dead and seemed to go on for miles.

“Are you taking me out here to help you bury a body or something?” Luke spoke and it instantly had Ashton erupting into a giggle fit as he let his head fall back against the seat.

“Nah, Luke” he wiped at his eyes a bit “Just doing some riding. The desert out here is perfect for it”

“I don’t ride anymore though” Luke felt like he needed to get that out now before he was pressured into doing it.

“I know” Ashton looked at him and gave him a reassuring smile then faced the road again “I just wanted to show you where we hang out. We usually stay here until after dark so I hope you don’t have a curfew or something” there was a slight teasing tone to his voice but Luke shook his head.

“I don’t”

“I remember your dad from a few of the races. He seemed pretty…strict I guess”

“Yeah he was when it comes to racing but not really about anything else” Luke shrugged and remembered how tough his dad was on him when he didn’t win a race or even when he didn’t do well in a heat race. It was quite stressful at times and it was another reason he was glad he didn’t race anymore. It just took a lot of weight off his shoulders.

“You miss it though right?” Ashton suddenly said and it was a time like this that he wished Ashton could just read his mind because he would already have the answer to that.

“Not really” Luke said sternly and watched the road in front of them “It just got to be too much after a while”

“I think you do miss it” Ashton said with a grin and it made Luke upset. He was really getting sick of people thinking they knew him so well just because they seen him race.

“There’s parts I miss I guess but it’s just not in me anymore”

“We’ll see” Ashton smiled again and all of a sudden Luke started to regret coming at all. There was no escaping it though because they were now in the middle of the desert and there was literally no where for Luke to run. He started to wonder if Calum was right about Ashton after, all.

*

An hour and a half later Luke actually started to fall asleep against the window until he could hear the sound of dirt bikes in the distance and he sat up. Ahead of him he could see sand dunes and then all of a sudden a dirt bike was coming up over the hill and doing a [Superman Seatgrab](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7Gjs1KWacA) before landing on at the bottom of the hill. Luke didn’t know what he was getting himself into but he knew it was much more than just Motocross. They drove closer and he could see two more bikes coming over the dune doing Tailwhip’s and landing at the same time. Luke had only seen Freestyle done like this when he was watching TV and he was a bit confused on why Ashton had talked about Motocross earlier.

“Wait…I thought you raced Motocross?” Luke asked him still not tearing his eyes away from the dunes.

“I used to but I don’t know…” Ashton looked forward and they both watched as another rider went over a dune “It just got boring after a while. Haven’t you ever considered doing freestyle?”

“Um no” Luke quickly said “I almost died just from riding Motocross. I’d have to have a fucking death wish to start doing Freestyle after what happened”

“You gotta die sometime” Ashton grinned and Luke swore he seen a bit of insanity in his eyes but he shook it off as Ashton parked his truck where there was already about 10 trucks parked in a line. Luke started glancing around to see three guys on just sitting on their bikes in a half circle. They all had their helmets and goggles hanging off their handlebars with their shirts off as one of them was taking big sips of his water. Luke looked straight ahead to see two other guys riding towards Ashton’s truck and then Ashton was getting out so Luke did too.

“Where the fuck have you been?” one of them shouted over the sound of the other guy revving his bike up and purposely making noise. The guy that had just talked reached over to the person next to him to shut off his bike for him so they could hear themselves talk.

“I had to load my shit up” Ashton said walking over to the one on the right. Luke normally wouldn’t feel so out of place but these guys were on a whole other wavelength than him. They were FMX riders and Luke always felt like the guys who did that were a bit nuts. You had to be in order to put your life at so much risk every time you got on a bike “Guys” Ashton said to his friends then he was pointing over to Luke “You know Luke Hemmings”

“Dude” the one on the left said taking off his helmet “I never miss a race on TV during the season and honestly you’re always the best to watch man. The way you take those turns…how do you do it? It looks so fucking easy to you” with the way the kid was talking he was reminded of the time Calum showed up on his doorstep that day.

“Yeah….” Luke chuckled a little and rubbed the back of his neck “I don’t really know” Luke decided to spare the whole “I don’t ride anymore” spiel and just stick to acting like he didn’t want to talk about it.

“And I remember watching the day you got in the accident” Luke felt his stomach drop and he looked to the ground “Man that was fucking brutal. I was watching it at some sports bar and I swear no one talked in the whole place for like five minutes straight” Luke just nodded and tired not to let it bother him too much. He knew his crash looked awful, soon after he got home from the hospital he used to watch the footage of it almost every day. He still doesn’t know why he did that because it sure wasn’t helping anything. He glanced over to see the kid on the right taking his helmet off and seeming totally uninterested in the conversation. Luke was okay with that though. He actually hated how much attention he had been getting lately “I’m Alex by the way” Luke stepped forward to shake hands with them then stood next to Ashton.

“And this is Dakota” Ashton said and all Dakota did was give Luke a slight glare then shake his head before starting up his bike and doing a half circle, making dust fill the air, and taking off towards the dunes again. Luke shut his eyes a bit as he felt the dust burning them and then looked to Ashton for an explanation.

“He doesn’t really like Motocross racers” Ashton said simply and Luke rolled his eyes away to see a few bikes making their way up a dune and then disappearing over it. When Luke turned back he expected to see Ashton still standing there but he wasn’t anymore. He looked backwards to see him at the back of his truck putting his tailgate down and putting a black beam down to start wheeling his dirt bike onto the ground “Alex could you grab my goggles from the front seat?” Ashton said starting to put his red and black gear on that matched his bike and Alex nodded before opening the driver’s side door. Luke leaned against the grill of the truck as he focused on the dunes again. He could see a few riders going over some of the small dunes in the distance but the bigger ones that were closer to him were empty. For some reason Luke found himself only looking at the bigger dunes and a few seconds later he realized why. All of a sudden a bike was coming out from behind the biggest dune and doing a [double backflip](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwQ8D26HzPM) and making it look so easy as he landed cleanly on the ground. Luke’s mouth was already hanging open in shock and then the guy came up to the next dune and did a [Cordova Flip](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yo4UTLl9S2g) and landed that just as perfect as the trick before. Luke had only seen those tricks done a couple times in his life but they were all done on TV by guys who had been riding FMX professionally for at least 10 years. Luke shook his head in disbelief as the guy drove by him, a few feet away, doing a wheelie then stopping just as he got to the next dune and instantly going into a [Tsunami](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uem7t4dmREM) as he went over the hill.

Luke just couldn’t tear his eyes away as the rider finally seemed to be slowing down. He stopped further away from Luke now where the group of three other riders were still just sitting on their bikes in a half circle and they all started smiling at the boy as he stuck out his hand and then one of them was handing him a water bottle. Unfortunately the boys back was facing Luke so he couldn’t see if he was smiling or not. He had to of been after a run like that though, Luke thought. He watched as the boy took off his goggles and nodded his head a few times before taking off his helmet and Luke couldn’t believe who it was. The boys blue hair looked even darker as he poured water over his head and rubbed a hand through it a few times. Luke could see him smile as he slightly looked to the right to the rider who was coming up to them. Luke only got knocked out of the trance he was in when Ashton was starting his bike behind him. Luke jumped a bit and turned to see Ashton smiling at him. Alex had his bike on the kick stand now and was walking around without his shirt as he chugged down a water and walked towards Luke. Ashton took off past them and Luke watched him go over the first dune but then he was looking back at the blue haired boy. Luke didn’t understand why he was infatuated with him. He was just the most insane rider he’s ever seen in the flesh. The blue haired boy was stepping off his bike and walked towards one of the trucks as he threw his shirt onto the tailgate. Even from the distance that Luke was at he could see a few scars down his back. When the boy stretched his arms over his head Luke found himself biting his lip as his back muscles popped out and his biceps showed. Luke started hating himself for having all these thoughts and internally groaned as he forced himself to look away. He looked to the right to see Ashton coming up over a dune and going into a [Volt](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irkZZvXH1FM). Luke raised his eyebrows, impressed, but it was still nothing compared to what he had just watched the blue haired boy do. He heard someone scream “You bastard!” across from him and Luke was forced to look over at the boy again as he sat up on the tailgate and shook his head as he was taking a drink. Alex appeared next to Luke and Luke couldn’t help the question that came out of his mouth.

“Who’s that?” Luke nodded over to him and Alex looked puzzled.

“Who?”

“Blue hair” Luke said casually like he wasn’t literally dying to know his name.

“Oooooh” Alex said with a chuckle “That’s Michael Clifford. Craziest fucker I’ve ever met. I swear the kid has no fear” Luke had to swallow down the slight jealousy. If he was more like that then he would still be racing Motocross, even after the accident.

“Are you friends with him?”

“Eh no” Alex laughed “His friend Brandon is a total asshole so I just stay away from both of them…I’ve seen Ashton hang around them a couple of times though”

“So is Michael an asshole too?” Luke cringed at asking so many questions about him but Alex didn’t seem to be phased by it.

“I don’t really know honestly” Alex looked over to him so Luke did too. Michael was putting his shirt back over his head then pushing his wet hair off his head “I can’t get a solid opinion on him” and Luke nodded. He was finding it hard to figure him out too. He seemed cocky as he walked back over to his bike but it also seemed to just come naturally to him, like he wasn’t purposely trying to act like that. In the distance he seen a bike doing a wheelie towards where Michael was standing and Michael took a double look at the rider before putting his helmet on. The other rider stopped right in front of Michael then took his helmet off. Luke gritted his teeth at the sight of Brandon. The dirty looks he got from the boy had lasted all day and Luke was a bit frightened of what the kid might do off school grounds if he had the chance. The sun was starting to go down behind the dunes so the heat died down a bit but Luke was still roasting to death. Ashton was then riding towards them and shutting his bike off.

“Still can’t get that fucking trick down” Ashton said in an angry tone as he looked at Alex from behind his goggles.

“You never press the throttle in time man” Alex said simply, throwing him a water bottle.

“It’s bullshit. I swear I’m gonna kill myself trying to do this trick”

“What trick?” Luke asked curiously.

“[The Kiss Of Death](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eF-cXsIs-pM)” and Luke knew the trick. He had only seen a few people do it but he knew it was wicked. He smiled a bit and wondered if Michael could do it. He seemed to be able to do other things that were equally as crazy. Luke started to get a sick feeling in his stomach when he could feel someone glaring at him but he was looking around and he couldn’t tell who it was.

“Well well well” a deep voice said from the left of him. He heard Alex mutter a “shit” and it got Luke feeling curious so he turned to see who was talking. Brandon was slowly walking closer to him as his boots kicked up the sand and created dust in the air. “Look who finally decided to show up”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Luke snapped back and he felt Alex tense up next to him.

“Oh I’m sorry…” Brandon said in a clearly sarcastic tone as he put his palm over his heart “I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Brandon and if that doesn’t ring any bells then maybe this will: I was the kid you decided to push off the track in Kentucky last year. I might also add that I was only a foot away from the finish line on the last lap when you did such a thing” Luke looked away and closed his eyes for a few seconds; Calum was right. He had screwed Brandon over in a past race and Luke couldn’t believe he had done that to so many people without remembering it at all.

“Is there a point to all your rambling?” Luke said in a confident tone and he looked past Brandon to see a few guys watching him with wide eyes like they couldn’t believe he had just said that. Luke began to regret it as Brandon got this sinister smile on his face.

“As a matter of fact there is” Brandon raised his eyebrows “I want a re-do”

“A re-do?” Luke scrunched his face up “And how are we supposed to do that?”

“There’s a track not too far from here” Brandon shrugged and for a few seconds Luke felt like they were actually friends by how casual he was being.

“I don’t ride anymore” Luke said sternly and that had Brandon smiling and looking back to laugh with some of the guys behind him.

“That’s right…it’s too bad that stunt back in Glen Helen didn’t cost you your life…then we wouldn’t be having to have this conversation” suddenly his smile was fading and Luke stepped back a little “Now I’m not gonna ask you again. You owe me a re-match, Hemmings”

“Yeah with what? I don’t even have my bike” Luke didn’t know why he was going along with this. There was no way in hell he was riding and he was especially not racing this asshole.

“You can borrow mine” a voice said in front of Luke and Luke whipped his head to see Ashton smirking at him and he really didn’t like how Ashton was looking at him.

“I’m not racing you” Luke said as he tensed his jaw up and looked back at Brandon.

“Yeah? Then what the hell are you doing here?” Luke was confused as he tried to figure out what Brandon was trying to say. He was here because Ashton invited him. Luke started to panic as what Calum said about Ashton came back to him and how eager Ashton sounded when he was asking him to hang out with him. Luke felt sick to his stomach as it all came back to him and he leaned against the truck “The only fucking reason Ashton brought you out here was to race me” Luke already knew that but hearing the words come out of Brandon’s mouth made him feel even worse. He couldn’t believe this was happening and the worst part was that he literally had no way out. Ashton had been the one to drive him here and he was stuck in the middle of the desert so it wasn’t like he could just walk into town and call his parents to come get him. He doesn’t think his phone has had a single bar since he left town because of how desolate it was out here.

“I’m not fucking doing it” Luke said once again. Luke focused on things other than Brandon as he seen Michael’s bike making its way towards them and he stopped at two trucks away from where Luke was, where everyone else was watching what was going on. Michael seemed to be oblivious of it all as he took off his helmet and took a drink from his water. Luke didn’t know why but he just kept staring at the side of Michael’s face hoping he would look at him and see what was going on.

“Well then I guess I’ll just have to kick your ass to even things out” Brandon was smirking again but Luke refused to look back at him. Instead he watched as Michael became more aware of what was going on as he was looked at the back of Brandon’s head. Luke felt like his heart had literally stopped when Michael looked directly at him. It was only for a few seconds before he was rolling his eyes away and grabbing the back of his shirt and taking it off. Michael then walked around the side of a truck.

“Fuck” Luke really wasn’t sure why he mumbled that. It was either because he knew Michael wasn’t going to save him from this or because of how much Michael’s body turned him on. Either way, he was fucked. The next thing Luke could register was Brandon standing directly in front of him as he grabbed his shirt and pinned him hard against the truck.

“Come on Brandon” Alex said so quiet that he practically whispered it. He was about as intimidating as a mouse but Luke appreciated him for trying “It was years ago man”

“I don’t forget things when there’s championships involved. That championship should have been mine” Brandon spat out at him and Luke felt pain rupture his face as Brandon slammed his fist into him but he wasn’t done. Luke knew he wasn’t. He was then getting a punch to the gut and he remembered how badly he hurt after the accident. This was nothing compared to that but Luke still couldn’t wait until it was over. Brandon was hitting him hard in the stomach two more times before Luke was dropping to the ground. Suddenly there was the sound of a door slamming shut.

“Brandon!” a voice came from the left of him but Luke was too weak to see who it was.

“What?” Brandon snapped and then kneed Luke in the face. Luke felt blood dripping down his face as his nose started to bleed and he began to cough. He wouldn’t have been surprised if he started to cough up blood.

“What the fuck are you doing?” the same voice from before said. Luke put one hand down on the sand to hold himself up.

“Um I’m kicking his ass”

“I thought you were just gonna race him. What the hell is this?” the voice was closer now but Luke kept his eyes shut and was afraid to even move an inch.

“He refused to race me”

“Jesus Christ” the kid groaned through clenched teeth. Suddenly there was a hand on his shoulder and then someone was helping him up. When he was standing up straight he realized that it was Alex. Luke glanced up and seen that Michael was standing next to Brandon examining his face and Luke couldn’t help but close his eyes when pain shot through his stomach “Get in the truck” Michael was pointing a thumb over his shoulder as he looked at Luke and Luke couldn’t believe that Michael was the one who saved him from Brandon “Alex can you…” he nodded to something back behind him and Alex mumbled a “Yeah” Alex was then leading Luke over to a black truck that was similar to Ashton’s. He felt Ashton’s stare on him as Alex was helping him walk and the thought of Ashton sent shivers through his spine; he couldn’t believe that he had been screwed over like that and he knew he should have listened to Calum. At this point Calum was the only person he even trusted.

“Just sit up here until Michael gets here” Alex was opening the passenger door then urging Luke to sit down. Luke groaned a little as he sat back in the seat and closed his eyes.

“Did you know about this?” Luke asked with his eyes still closed as he tensed his jaw.

“I knew Ashton was bringing you out here but he never told me why…I swear I didn’t know Luke” Alex said truthfully and Luke just nodded while still holding his stomach then going to hold his nose whenever he felt blood trickling down.

  
Luke doesn’t know how long he sat there in Michael’s truck with his head on the window but soon he felt the truck moving a bit from somewhere in the back and then he heard the tailgate shutting. Luke jumped up into a sitting position but just ended up letting his head fall back on the window when no one opened the driver’s side door for a few more minutes. Luke only had enough strength to flick his eyes up when he seen the door opening and Michael was slipping inside with his shirt still off. Luke internally groaned and hoped that he wouldn’t just be staring at him the whole time. Michael still didn’t look over at him as he started the truck and ran a through his hair quickly before he was pulling back onto the road. Luke felt himself relaxing a little when he knew that Brandon and Ashton were far away from him. Michael was finally taking a double look at him then reaching over to the glove department in front of Luke before grabbing a few napkins and throwing them on Luke’s lap.

“I don’t want you bleeding all over my god damn truck” Michael’s voice was sharp and Luke felt like Michael really wasn’t too fond of him either. Luke lifted his head off the window and put the napkins to his nose as he leaned back against the seat. He heard Michael let out a breath as he turned the AC on “I don’t even know why you came out here in the first place” Michael said in the same sharp tone as before and Luke definitely felt like he somehow screwed Michael out of winning a race too. It really wouldn’t surprise him since it seemed to be a thing he did often.

“I don’t know….” Luke mumbled and looked over to see Michael rolling his eyes as he shook his head.

“And you could have at least attempted to put up a fight. You just caved like what the hell was that?” Luke was starting to feel about two inches tall as Michael continued to put him down and make him feel stupid and weak.

“Yeah well I’m not much of a fighter” was all he could make himself say and it was true. That was the first physical fight he had ever been involved in.

“Clearly” Michael said with attitude still dripping off his tongue.

“Did I screw you over in a race too?”

“What?” Michael said briefly glancing over at him and even for those few seconds Luke felt like his heart had sped up. He needed to get it together.

“Did I push you off the track at some race? Cause you seem like you want to kick my ass too”

“If I was gonna kick your ass I would have done it already” Michael said in a dead serious tone and Luke just looked at the side of his face as the sun was reflecting down on it. Luke thought that Michael looked beautiful and wished that he could kick his own ass for having thoughts like these “I’ve never raced Motocross” Michael added and Luke wasn’t sure why but he all of a sudden wanted to know all there was about this kid; like how long it took him to learn all those tricks, how long he’s been riding and Luke just wanted to hear him talk. If Michael wasn’t mad at him for some past race then he really wasn’t sure what he had done wrong but he hoped Michael would stop acting so cold towards him. It was making him feel awful.

“So….have you always lived here?” It was Luke’s attempt at making Michael talk normally to him but then Michael was doing a low chuckle and shaking his head. Luke felt that feeling in his stomach again as Michael smiled and maybe it’s because that was the first time he really seen him do it up close.

“Are you seriously trying to make small talk with me right now, Hemmings?” Michael looked over at him and for once he didn’t look away right away. Luke felt the blush on his cheeks being under Michael’s stare but he didn’t look away.

“Yeah…maybe” he smirked and hoped his charm would work on Michael. Michael was shaking his head again and looking away as a slight smile still remained on his lips. For a couple of minutes there was silence and both of them just watched the road in front of them until Michael was speaking again.

“Yeah I’ve always lived here….” Michael drifted off and Luke was still watching him as he let his one hand slide down the steering wheel and stretch his shoulders back. Luke felt like a creep letting his eyes roam down Michael’s bare arms and then down his sides and for a second Luke actually felt himself wanting to reach out and touch him. He had no idea what the hell was going on with him but he really wished it would stop “I was born in Bakersfield though” Michael continued and Luke snapped his eyes back up to Michael’s face just in case Michael looked over at him. Michael stayed fixed on the road though but Luke didn’t want him to stop talking. He didn’t know what it was about him but he liked hearing his voice.

“How’d you learn how to ride like that?”

“You were watching me….” Michael raised an eyebrow at him and Luke nodded.

“Well yeah…It was kind of hard not to”

“I just….” Michael shook his head “I don’t know it’s like if I want to get a certain trick down I have to do it or it will drive me insane. It’s probably a boarderline problem with how much it bothers me if I can’t do something but I just can’t stop it. I don’t even care how many times I get hurt…all I know is that I want to keep doing this”

“I wouldn’t consider that a problem” Luke mumbled and it had Michael focusing on him “If I was more like that I’d still be racing”

“So you miss it?” Luke had been asked that question a million times since he stopped racing and every time he had lied. This time he felt like he didn’t need to.

“Yeah…I miss it a lot. Sometimes I think I don’t but at the end of the day my life doesn’t even seem to have a purpose without it”

“Well then get on your bike again” Michael laughed a little like it was obvious but Luke shook his head.

“It’s not that simple” Luke said turning to him.

“I’m pretty sure it is” Michael fired back at him.

“I don’t know even know if I’d ride the same anymore”

“You wouldn’t just lose it that quickly. Shit like that just sticks with you no matter what”

“But….” Luke began but Michael was looking at him and raising his eyebrows. It was meant to be stern and make Luke not want to keep making excused but Luke just found it to be incredibly cute “I’m just saying…I was really determined before and I just don’t know if I have that same drive”

“Well there’s only way to find out right?” Michael said smiling at him and Luke couldn’t help but do the same back to him “If it turns out that you don’t feel the same about it then you don’t ever have to do it again. It’s as simple as that”

“Yeah...” Luke bit as it was now starting to get dark and Michael was turning his headlights on “I guess so”

  
*

It was pretty silent after that until they got back into town and Luke guessed it was because Michael assumed he was asleep as he let his head rest back on the window but really Luke was just caught up in thought. He couldn’t stop thinking about what Michael had said about getting back on a bike again and it’s the first time he’s ever thought so hard about it. His dad must have told him a million times to just get back on his bike and not think too much about it but Luke always brushed it off and never even let the thought settle in his brain long enough. Now it was all he was thinking about. He wasn’t sure if it was merely because Michael was saying it to him and he was just so whipped for him already that he would listen to anything he said or if it was the way Michael worded it. Other people were always trying to force it on him and saying how he just needed to get that passion back for it but Michael was telling him that he already had it…he just had to find it again.  
Luke was a bit sad, to say the least, when Michael asked where he lived then he was pulling in his driveway ten minutes later. He was hoping to god that his parents wouldn’t be in the living room when he got home so he wouldn’t have to deal with them tonight. He already felt stupid enough.

“Thanks for driving me home and stuff…I hope you didn’t leave early just to take me home”

“No” Michael shook his head “I was gonna head home soon anyways”

“I guess I’ll see you around then?” Luke looked to Michael and he just smiled a bit. Luke felt dumb for still continuing to sit there. It had been a long drive so Michael probably wanted to just get home. Luke stepped out of the truck and shut the door before sparing one more glance at Michael, not knowing how long it would be until he seen him again. Luke really hoped he didn’t have to wait long. As he was walking up the front steps he could feel Michael’s eyes still on him.

“Hemmings!” Michael shouted and Luke smiled as he turned to see the boy with his head out the window and his arm resting on the door “Make sure to put some ice on that eye” there was a slight teasing tone to his voice but Luke liked it for some reason. He just nodded and tried not to smile too wide and watched as Michael pulled out. He took a deep breath before opening the front door and made to sure close it quietly once he was inside. He hoped that he was able to just sneak up stairs and just deal with his parents tomorrow. He knew that wouldn’t be the case though.

“Luke” his mothers’ soft voice came from the couch. The living room was dark except for the TV flashes and the small light from the kitchen being on. Luke kept his head low to the floor and made sure not to look up at her, even though it was dark and his mom probably wouldn’t be able to see his already black eye. He didn’t want to chance it though “Where did that boy end up taking you? And what was his name again?”

“We just hung out at his house” Luke said with a steady voice and he knew it would be hard to say his name without getting angry but he had to try “His name is Ashton”

“Oh so you had fun? I’m glad you’re meeting people, honey”

“Yeah…it was great” Luke cringed at how nervous and upset he really sounded. He knew his mother would see right through his lie at any second.

“Luke?” her worried voice came into play and Luke clenched his jaw and his eyes shut.

“Yeah?” he now looked up towards the kitchen and acted like something caught his eye in there to not seem as suspicious.

“Luke look at me” she spoke louder this time.

“Mom, I’m really tired. We can talk tomorrow” he began to walk towards the stairs then he heard his mother get up off the couch and he stopped. He actually thought about just running up the stairs but he felt frozen. There was a hand on his shoulder and then his mother was turning him around. Luke kept his head facing upwards but looked to the ground. He couldn’t stand seeing his mothers terrified stare any longer.

“Who did this to you, Luke? Was it that boy?” she whispered as he rubbed her thumb across his cheek right under where his eye was probably already black and blue.

“No…it was someone else. It doesn’t matter” Luke went to turn but his mother was grabbing his shoulders.

“Yes is does matter, Luke. Who did this?” his mother was practically yelling and Luke was so sick of everything. He wanted to be back in Florida with Cam. He wanted to be racing again and go back to having people actually like him. This thing where people seemed to strongly dislike him was all new to Luke and he hated all of it.

“Just some kid at school…it was a big misunderstanding” Luke ripped his arm away from her and was glad that she didn’t try to grab him back this time. He jogged up the stairs but felt his stomach hurting a bit when he got to the top so he slowed down. When he got to his bedroom he flopped down on his bed and wiggled out of his jeans before throwing his clothes across the room and burrowing under the blankets. He was only left alone for a few minutes before his dad was rubbing his eyes and coming through his door, only knocking once before entering “Did mom seriously wake you up just to come in here? Seriously I’m fine. I don’t get why she babies me so much” his dad just shook his head then threw an ice pack on his bed before leaning against the wall.

“Who did this, Luke?” he was being a lot more stern than his mother so Luke knew he had to just tell him. It was better to get it over with.

“Some kid wanted to race me because apparently I, unfairly, won a race that he was supposed to win and he wanted a re-match but I refused to so he beat the shit out of me” Luke clapped his hands together “Are we done here? Cause I’d like to sleep” he knew he was using a rude tone and he knew his dad didn’t like it but he was just of having to be awake and deal with all of this.

“Why does he think that you unfairly won the race?” his father asked.

“I don’t know…” Luke ran a hand through his hair closed his eyes “I guess I pushed him off the track. Apparently it’s a thing I used to do quite often but no one had the decency to tell me that I was even doing it” Luke glared at his father a little.

“Would you have listened to me if I would have told you to stop?” and his dad had a point. Luke let out a breath and got under the covers more.

“Probably not” Luke mumbled and he could see his father smiling.

“Next time don’t be so trusting of someone who wants to take you out to the desert” his dad simply said and then he was turning around to walk away but Luke was a bit confused because he lied to his mother and just said that he had hung out at Ashton’s house.

“Wait what?” Luke shot out “How did you know I went to the desert?”

“There’s a gallon of sand down by the front door son” he glared a little but with a hint of humor then he was leaving. Luke should have known that he couldn’t get away with lying when it came to his dad. As Luke laid there he found himself not being able to put what Michael said out of his mind. He really couldn’t stop thinking about Michael and it was driving him crazy. Usually Luke wasn’t ever this affected by people but Michael seemed to have a very tight grasp on Luke and it was beginning to scare him as to why that was.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let me know how you like the new chapter! Tumblr: Clifford-affliction

_Luke didn’t have to wait long until Cam was coming through the door looking more exhausted than Luke has ever seen him and that made him feel like shit. He hated that Cam was losing sleep and not going home just because of him. Luke knew he would do the same thing for his best friend though so he began to relax a little. Cam was holding a small plastic bag and swinging it as he walked._

_“How ya holding up?” when Cam spoke it had felt like years since Luke had heard him talk and he felt himself smiling for real for the first time since he woke up. Cam rubbed a hand through his messy curly brown hair and sat on the edge of Luke’s bed by his hip._

_“_ _Okay I guess…pretty hungry actually”_

_“_ _I knew you would be” he smirked and started bringing out different containers that said KFC on them. KFC was Luke’s favorite and he almost moaned at how good the food smelled._

_“You’re a god” Luke said already opening up the container of mac and cheese and Cam was handing him a spoon._

_“I didn’t want you eating the hospital food. Dog food probably tastes better than that shit” and Luke laughed for real as he leaned his head back then started eating the chicken._

_“Did you try it?”_

_“Yeah…When I was here for my torn ACL I had to. No one brought me KFC” he shot a jokingly glare at Luke and Luke smiled wide._

_“I was training in Nevada that week..I would have brought you KFC if I could have” Luke said getting serious and Cam just nodded as he worriedly looked down Luke’s body “I’m fine, Cameron” Luke barely ever called him by his full name but he felt like it was necessary. He needed Cam to know he was serious._

_“When I seen you lying on the ground….” Cam closed his eyes like he was remembering it and then shook his head “I thought you were gone, man” the atmosphere all of a sudden changed to a much more intense one and Luke missed the one from before when he was smiling and laughing. He took a bite of his mashed potatoes then focused on Cam._

_“You didn’t have to forfeit the race just for me…I know how bad you wanted to win, Cam and I know you could have done it if it wasn’t for getting off your bike and running over to me” Cam furrowed his eyebrows while still looking down at the floor then he was licking his lips and looking at Luke while he shook his head._

_“I was right behind you when you went down. I saw the whole fucking thing, Luke. I wasn’t going to just drive past you like I didn’t just see my best friend get in one of the most brutal crashes I’ve ever seen”_

_“You still…you still didn’t have to. You could have won”_

_“You really must not be thinking rationally right now cause you sound nuts” Cam said with a slight laugh but Luke knew he didn’t think it was funny at all._

_“I’m gonna feel bad about this for a while. I hope you know that”_

_“Fine” Cam laughed again “I’ve seen the crash like 20 times now and I literally cringe every time”_

_“How have you been seeing it?” Luke quickly said and it seemed like Cam regretted what he had just said._

_“Oh umm…they’ve been replaying it like crazy on NBC SPORTS”_

_“I wanna see it” Luke was already frantically looking around for the remote then he found it and Cam was already taking it from him._

_“I don’t think you should…not right now at least. I shouldn’t have even brought it up”_

_“I can handle it” Luke said taking the remote back and Cam was letting out a breath._

_“Luke it’s hard for me to even watch…it’s a lot to take in right now when you’ve literally just woken up” Luke just ignored him as he looked at the TV guide next to his bed and changed it to channel 130. Cam stared at Luke for a few seconds after that with an obvious glare but he looked to the TV when the announcer started to talk._

“Just in case you missed it: Three days ago last year’s Championship Motocross rider Luke Hemmings was in a crash that nearly cost him his life. Sources say that he still remains at St. Bernadine Medical Center after two screws were put into his pelvis after dislocating his spine” _the announcer began and the women next to him began to shake her head in disbelief._

“That was one of the most cringe worthy accidents I have ever seen” _she said loudly and Luke already began to regret turning this on._

_“Let’s play that footage again” the man said looking at the camera. Luke watched riders zoom down the track and he wasn’t able to spot himself just yet. Suddenly the camera angle moved to where it was motioned upward and Luke spotted his KTM going over a table top before getting to the biggest hill right before the finish line. Luke held his breath as he watched himself do something weird with his hand on the throttle and he came up short to land on top of the front side of the landing ramp with the front wheel on the other side of the jump. His crankcase had smashed so hard into the dirt that it was stuck there for a few seconds before his body fell off the bike and into the dirt. On the video he could see Cam running over to him, along with his parents and two other men. The video cut off and the announcers had begun to talk but Luke wasn’t listening. The only thing he could focus on was the image in his head of his body falling onto the ground like it was lifeless. He should have listened to Cam._

*

Luke’s alarm went off at 7am like it had yesterday but this time Luke ended up just chucking his clock across the room in his half sleep daze and either his mom didn’t notice that he never got up or she just chose to ignore it because it was now noon and he was still laying in his bed watching TV as he chowed down some more junk food. Every time he got up to go to the bathroom he always had to look in the mirror at his black eye and be reminded of how much an idiot he was for trusting Ashton even after Calum had warned him not to.

*

He must have temporarily fallen asleep out of pure boredom at some point because at around 4pm he was waking up from a door slamming shut. It really alarmed him because it was way too early for his parents to be home so he was actually scared he was being robbed or something. Luke got under the blankets a little more feeling like a kid again but he didn’t care. Suddenly a brown haired boy was appearing his doorway with a smile on his face but it quickly disappeared when he seen Luke’s face. Luke let out a breath and sat up as he looked back at the TV.

“Who the hell did that?” Calum said stepping closer.

“No offense but I don’t think we are to the point in our friendship where you can just walk into my fucking house”

“Luke seriously…Did Ashton do that? God damn it I told you-”

“Ashton didn’t do it” Luke said simply then Calum was wanting him to continue “It was Brandon”

“But why?”

“You were right…I did screw him over and he wanted to race me again but I refused so he…” Luke gestured to his face as he widened his eyes.

“Shit” Calum sat down in Luke’s computer chair then spun around a few times looking at his room “You’re room isn’t how I pictured it to be”

“How did you picture it?” Luke scrunched up his face.

“Well where are all your trophies?” Calum said like some little kid.

“Buried in the back yard…along with all my hopes and dreams” Luke spoke dryly as he didn’t make eye contact with Calum. He heard the boy scoff.

“You’re so dramatic” then he got a thinking face on “How’d you get home last night though?” Luke tried not to smile thinking about it but he failed instantly and Calum grinned at him.

“What? Who was it?” he teased and Luke shook the smile off his face.

“Michael Clifford”

“Really?’ Calum chuckled and Luke nodded “That really doesn’t seem like something he’d do. Are you sure it was him?” Luke glared at him.

“He had blue hair and he put me down about three times before he started talking to me like I wasn’t a total piece of trash”

“Okay yup” Calum laughed “That’s him”

“I’ve never seen anyone do the shit he was doing though” Luke shook his head in disbelief as he watched the TV “It was fucking insane”

“Oh I know what you mean” Calum laughed “The tricks that kid can pull are definitely boner worthy” that had Luke shutting his eyes and leaning his head back as he laughed and Calum looked so proud that he made Luke laugh like that. It was that second that Luke felt like he could be totally honest with Calum; like he could let him see a part of him that he didn’t let most people see.

“Yeah there’s no doubt that I had one but it had nothing to do with the tricks he was doing” Luke said with a straight face as he didn’t look at Calum. In the corner of his eye he could see Calum’s whole face turn into a smile and then he was giggling into his hands.

“Oh my god” Calum tried to catch his breath a little “I knew you weren’t straight! I just knew it” he still continued to laugh.

“You didn’t know shit” Luke teased as he smiled.

“I remember watching that TV special when you were in that interview with Jeremy Stenberg and I was like ‘Okay Luke totally keeps checking him out’” that had Luke laughing again and then he was nodding.

“I totally was” Luke said honestly.

“I can’t blame you” and that had them both laughing but then Calum started to get serious “But do you really like Michael?” Luke felt his smile fading as well.

“Yeah…” Luke said dragging it out a bit then taking a deep breath “People usually don’t pull me in that fast but he did…I don’t know what it was”

“I would tell you straight up whether or not you have a shot with him if I knew…but I honestly have no clue. I mean I don’t think I’ve ever seen him look anyone with any type of interest. He pretty much keeps to himself”

“Yeah, he seems to be a pretty difficult person to figure out”

“He is. It’s actually shocking to me that you were even able to have a normal conversation with him”

“He told me I should get back into racing” Luke said shyly as he played with a thread on his blanket.

“Are you going to?” Calum had some hope in his voice and Luke didn’t understand why him racing meant so much to certain people. Sometimes they acted as if his racing actually impacted the world in some way.

“I don’t know what I’m gonna do” Luke mumbled as he changed the channel.

*

Luke ended up not kicking Calum out of his house like he originally thought he would and he even let Calum sit next to him on the bed. He didn’t refrain himself from hitting Calum in the shoulder though when he started saying “Oh my god I can’t believe I’m laying in Luke Hemmings bed” in a fanboy voice, similar to the one he had used on Luke’s front deck the very first day they met. Looking back Luke never would have guessed that him and Calum would now be friends because Calum thought so highly of Luke the second he met him and Luke knew it wasn’t true so it made him uncomfortable. Calum still acted like that occasionally but Luke knew Calum was realizing that he was just a regular kid.

“Can I ummm….” Calum began and he twirled his fingers together.

“Spit it out”

“Can I see your bike?” Calum said quickly and Luke sighed. He hadn’t even seen his bike since he wheeled it into the garage on the first day they arrived “Please” Calum begged.

“You just love pushing me to my limits don’t you?” Luke groaned.

“I just wanna look at it”

“It’s literally no different than any other KTM…just look one up online”

“I wanna see yours though” Calum was practically whining now.

“You’re a real pain you know that?” Luke said getting out of bed. He seen Calum jump off the bed and practically skip down the hallway. Somehow Calum just automatically knew where the door was that lead onto the garage and waited there until Luke walked up to it.

“Wait” Calum said putting a hand on Luke’s arm and Luke raised his eyebrows “I have to prepare myself”

“For what?” Luke said in a higher pitched voice.

“This is the bike that won two championships” Calum was still staring at the door.

“The bike didn’t win the damn championships; I did” Luke said quickly and then he was opening the door and flicking the light on. The Fluorescent lights lit up the entire garage and Luke squinted his eyes at the brightness for a few seconds. He then urged Calum to walk in first.

“Holy shit” Calum breathed out as he walked up to the orange and black bike. Luke just sat in one of the lawn chairs that was next to his dads toolbox. He wasn’t sure how long Calum wanted to stay in here but he figured it would be a while. He watched as Calum just ran his hands all along it and it reminded him of himself when he was as young as 3 years old. Luke remembers walking out to the garage one day with his dad and he just sat there watching his dad work on his bike for hours and when his dad was finally finished Luke got up and was so fascinated with it. He had never seen something that could hold so much power and after that he was hooked. He would watch his dad practice in their backyard track every single day until he was five years old; when he was five his mother finally agreed to let him get his own bike. Luke remembers it being a Yamaha with the extra training wheels on the back. Luke hated them and he always felt like they were holding him back from really letting lose; even back then he had this fire inside and all he wanted to do was ride around the track like he seen the guys on TV do. Luke wished he could have all that back; if he did he knew he wouldn’t be just currently staring at his bike, he’d be out there riding it. Calum bent over to start eying underneath the bike and then he stood up again to put his one hand on the seat.

“You know…” Luke began and it had Calum instantly looking at him. Hoping that Luke would tell him some story or memory of his about riding “You seem to really like motocross for someone who’s never raced” Luke knew that Calum has never once told him whether or not he’s raced before but that was kind of what gave it away that he hadn’t. Calum would have tons of stories to tell Luke if he was a racer and Luke knew that. For the first time Luke actually seen Calum look straight up uncomfortable as he ran his eyes around the room, looking anywhere but Luke, then he settled them back on the bike and turned entirely away from Luke “Oh I see how it is. You can push and pry to try and get me to talk about my past but as soon as I ask you about yours you completely shut down” Luke knew he was being a bit harsh but it was true; Calum was constantly trying to get something out of him. Calum just shook his head and went around the other side of the bike to lean against the work table that had tools scattered all across it. Luke guessed that his dad was working on his own bike even though he hadn’t been riding in years. Calum scoped them out for a few seconds before clearing his throat and crossing his arms.

“I just couldn’t do it okay?” he was speaking calmly but Luke felt a clench of guilt in his stomach at how in pain Calum really looked.

“What you couldn’t race?” Luke said softly.

“I could barely even ride” Calum spoke a lot louder than before and he couldn’t even look Luke in the eye “I just couldn’t do it; no matter how many times I tried. My dad bought me a bike and everything but in the end he just ended up wasting his money cause I couldn’t even fucking get on it without crashing a minute later”

“It’s just not for everyone, Calum” Luke felt bad for forcing Calum to talk about it and he wished he could tell Calum that it was okay and that he didn’t need to hear about it anymore but the boy just kept on talking.

“But I thought it was for me” Calum shook his head and seemed to be calming down a bit “I just- when you first started racing, I don’t know why, but you always stood out to me the most whenever I’d watch the races. I would just sit there thinking ‘I wanna ride like that’” Luke felt his gut twisting again and he looked to the floor “You were literally what made me want to ride and when I couldn’t do it I was absolutely crushed. I still continued to watch the races every weekend and learn possibly as much about it as I could because of the fact that I couldn’t do it myself” Calum rubbed a hand through his hair and let out a breath “I still remember the day my dad sold my dirt bike. Even though I knew I’d never be able to ride it still hurt me because it was like he was giving up on me too”

“I’m umm….” Luke shook his head “I’m really sorry, Cal”

“Luke it’s just-“ Calum was now talking to him like he was a parent that was upset with Luke and Luke didn’t want to look at him “It’s just that you have all that talent and you’re just…not taking advantage of it”

“It’s not because I don’t want to…” Luke spoke quietly and honestly as he looked to the floor still “It’s that I just…can’t. As soon as the doctors told me I was able to start walking again the first thing I did was run out to the garage and get on my bike but it just wasn’t the same. I kept messing up on parts of the track that I had down perfectly…and it was my own fucking track so I had no reason to be messing up like I was. It scared the shit out of me and I swear I was out riding until past midnight every day for like a month but I still wasn’t getting it”

“You were just a little rusty, Luke”

“No….” Luke started shaking his head as soon as Calum spoke “It was something different. I could feel it. I’m not used to failure…so it just killed me and I know that I had lost it”

“But wait….” Calum put a hand up “You told me you hadn’t gotten on a bike since before the accident…”

“I lied” Luke said bluntly “I didn’t want to remember the last time I got on a bike to be when I was riding so terribly. I was doing so well at Glen Helen before the crash and that was the only thing I wanted to remember; not the memory of finally healing and then just failing at everything. I’m a failure, Cal”

“No you’re not…you just gotta try again. Maybe it was too soon after the accident” Calum spoke quickly trying to stop Luke from falling into this hole of depression and worthlessness but it was too late.

“You only know me as that guy on TV…if you would have seen me riding after the accident you wouldn’t even want to be talking to me right now. I’m just sorry that I’m not the person you imagined me to be”

“Luke stop acting like I’m so disappointed in you…cause I’m not” Calum practically whispered. Luke’s jaw tightened and all he wanted to do was go back upstairs and feel bad for himself as he ate junk food. He hated that he had spilled so much of his past to Calum and now he just felt empty; knowing that Calum knew all his secrets "I mean if I'm being honest here you always seemed like a total asshole when you were on TV...you're way nicer in person. So what if you can't ride anymore" 

“Can you just-“ Luke waved towards the door but Calum still stood there looking speechless “Can you just leave? Please”

“Luke-“

“Calum” Luke groaned a bit and put a hand over his face. He kept his eyes closed under his hand and didn’t open them until he heard the garage door closing. He didn’t know how long he just sat there in the lawn chair staring at his bike and wishing that he had as much talent as Calum seemed to think he did. Even if he did have it he feels like he would just give it all to Calum if he could; Calum was more deserving of it. Luke swallowed hard before standing up and exiting the garage. Luke was so sick of feeling so useless all the time but he just didn’t know how to stop it. It felt so natural to feel like this and it made him sick to his stomach.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm giving you guys another chapter so soon because I'll be without internet for 2 weeks and unable to update during that time. Let me know what you guys think! Tumblr: Clifford-affliction (Sidenote: I'm seeing Neck Deep and State Champs next Saturday woo!)

_When Luke woke up the next morning he was still in his hospital bed. He didn’t know why he expected to be anywhere else but then he remembered that he was allowed to go home today and his spirits got lifted a little bit. Cam was the first person to come in his room all day and he simply sat in the chair next to the window before running his eyes over Luke’s bed sheets. Luke could tell Cam wanted to tell him something but he decided to be patient and wait for him to talk instead of prying like he usually would. Cam let out a breath and Luke was afraid that he was about to tell him some bad news like: he couldn’t go home today. That would be the worst news because Luke really didn’t know if he could spend another night in this hospital._

_“O’Boyle said that I could continue the season even though I didn’t finish the race…” Cam said it like he felt guilty for getting to race when Luke didn’t get to and Luke hated it. Cam should be happy that he’s hearing this news even though Luke can’t continue to race with him. Maybe that’s what Cam was upset about; because for the first time since they started racing Luke wouldn’t be joining him. Luke felt a sick feeling about it too._

_“So Colorado is the next stop right?”_

_“Yeah” Cam started nodding and finally made eye contact with Luke “Lakewood”_

_“Well just watch out for the first tabletop. It’s a bit sketchy” Luke knew that Cam knew this but he just felt the need to remind him since he wouldn’t be there with him. Both him and Cam had raced that track three times so he knew Cam would do just fine._

_“It’s going to be weird without you there” Cam admitted after a few minutes had gone by and Luke felt his stomach churn a bit._

_“I know” Luke said quietly as he looked down at his lap and kept grabbing at his fingers, it was a nervous habit “But you’ll do great” Luke spoke confidently this time and Cam smiled._

_“I hope so” Cam swallowed and started looking around the room “You excited to go home?”_

_“Yeah…I can’t wait to get the fuck out of here” Cam chuckled a little at how serious Luke sounded and Luke started to wonder when he was even going to see Cam again after he went back home. He was afraid it wouldn’t be until the season was over which would be two more months._

_“You alright?” Cam suddenly said and Luke realized that his worry had been evident on his face. He was probably turning pale. Luke just nodded but knew that wouldn’t be good enough “What’re you thinking about?” Cam practically whispered. Luke couldn’t tell Cam that he was worried about the next time he would even get to see him. Cam needed to finish the season and Luke knew that Cam would consider just dropping out of it if he knew that Luke needed him. Luke did need him but he knew how badly Cam wanted to continue the races._

_“I don’t even know what the hell I’m going to do all summer….” There was a lot of truth to that. Luke knew that within a week of not riding or just doing something that he would start to feel restless. Hopefully he didn’t end up losing his mind._

_“I’ll come see you after the Michigan race…then we can hang out for the 4th of July before I gotta head up to Massachusetts” That was basically only a month away. Luke could survive a month without him…at least he thought that he could. He really wasn’t sure anymore but he’d have to lie and tell Cam that he’d be fine until then._

_“Sounds good” Luke managed his best fake smile, even though he knew Cam could see right through it._

_“Your flight leaves in a couple of hours” Cam said standing up and stretching. Luke almost reached out to make him stay with him a little longer “You know it might be nice to have a little break; finally get a chance to catch your breath”_

_“Yeah…” Luke mumbled as he watched Cam’s every move as he grabbed the remote that somehow got on the table across the room then he was tossing it on Luke’s bed._

_“You’ll be fine Luke” Cam reassured softly and it was exactly what Luke needed “And you’ll be back on your bike in no time. We’ll kill it next season right?” Cam smiled and Luke nodded as he did a small smile._

_“Yeah…next season” Luke managed to say. He felt terrible for being so depressed because he was probably making Cam feel shitty as well._

_“I’ll see you in July bud” Cam reached out and slapped hands with Luke and Luke just nodded again._

_“_ _See you in July, Cam” Luke watched him walk to the door and felt like he was losing something really important. He had to remind himself that he would be seeing Cam soon “Good luck next weekend” Cam turned around and smiled as he was pulling the door open._

_“You gonna watch me on TV?” Cam said in a bit of a shy voice and Luke was a bit puzzled but nodded straight away._

_“I won’t miss a single race. I promise” and Luke meant it. If he couldn’t be there for Cam at the actual race then watching him on TV would be the next best thing. He watched his best friend smile wide at him before he was taking one last look at Luke and closing the door. Luke felt like this was the first big change in his life and he knew there would be many more to come until he was all the way healed. He didn’t think any of the changes could hurt as much as this one though._

*

Luke managed to crawl out of bed the next morning even though his stomach was killing him even more than the day before. He didn’t even see Calum for the entire day until it got to be lunch time. He was actually getting to the point where he felt bad for kicking Calum out of his house the day before. He just couldn’t handle talking about his past any longer and he had to find a way out. Also, by some god damn miracle, Brandon never shot any dirty looks in Luke’s direction during his first class and Luke hoped that Brandon was done messing with him now that he got to at least kick his ass for a few minutes. Luke glanced up to see Calum walking up to his table and then silently nodding towards it asking if he could sit down. Luke looked at him for a second in his white Blink-182 shirt and tight black jeans before he just nodded and went back to eating his food.

“I’m sorry about yesterday” Calum said after taking a bite of his pizza and focusing on Luke.

“Don’t worry about it” Luke mumbled and he was then taking a double look across the courtyard to see Michael sitting at a different table than they day before and this time he was all by himself. He didn’t seem to be too fazed by it as he just took bites out of his pizza and scrolled though his phone that was resting on the table.

“I shouldn’t be pushing you to get back on a bike again when I don’t know what you went through” Calum continued but Luke just kept staring at Michael and seen that Calum was looking down so he didn’t notice that Luke really wasn’t paying much attention to what he was saying “Seeing it on TV is a lot different than having it actually happen to you so I don’t have any right to judge you” Luke just nodded at Calum’s words and watched as Michael dropped his phone on the table to run a hand through hair. He started to wonder if Michael was talking to someone and Luke felt a pain of jealously. He barely even knew this kid yet he was getting jealous of people that got to talk to him…Luke really needed to get a grip on himself “Who umm…who are you looking at?” Luke shook his head and forced himself to look away from Michael.

“Nobody” Luke could feel Calum scanning his eyes around looking for the person he was staring at and knew he had found him when Calum let out a small laugh.

“You still pining over Michael?”

“I’m not ‘pining’” Luke said defensively as he shot Calum a dirty look “It doesn’t even matter anyways” Luke felt like Michael giving him attention was a onetime thing and he only did it because no one else was stepping up to take Luke home. He did what any normal person would do and Luke needed to stop pretending that Michael took him home that day because he liked him or just wanted him around. Luke had fell for straight guys in the past, never like this, but he knew he could get over it if he really tried. Even being just friends with Michael seemed way out of the question because Michael only seemed to have one friend and he was a total asshole. Luke knew he wasn’t so he obviously wasn’t Michael’s type.

“Just go talk to him” Calum said simply and Luke narrowed his eyes at him “Well he seems to like you for some reason” Luke decided to ignore the “for some reason” part and just got down to talking about Michael.

“Why would you think that he likes me though?” Luke literally felt like he was in middle school all over again talking about his school crush but he just couldn’t help it.

“Cause he took you home that day” Calum stated like it was obvious.

“Okay but he was just doing what any normal person would do and it’s not like anyone else was offering to take me home”

“Yeah but its Michael; he doesn’t do nice stuff like that…like ever” Calum took a few sips of his soda but Luke could tell he wasn’t done “The last time Brandon was beating the shit out of someone Michael actually joined in” Luke glanced over to look at Michael and felt his chest getting heavy. He wanted to believe that he was somehow special to Michael like Calum was insisting but there was just no way; he couldn’t be that lucky.

“I don’t know” was all that Luke mumbled as he looked down at his food that he no longer had any urge to eat. Now all he was thinking about was Michael and just trying to dissect everything that he had said to him that day he took him home. It was driving him nuts and all through lunch his eyes always landed on Michael and Luke was a little blown away at how soft and delicate all his movements really were. He noticed that Michael never glanced up when people would walk by and how he seemed to be in his own little world. Luke just wanted to know him; he liked being around him and he had such the strong urge to just get up and go sit by him. He knew Michael would think it was strange so he stayed glued to his seat and tried to focus on eating, even though his appetite was completely gone. It was actually starting to piss Luke off how much Michael was getting to him and he just wished he could shut it off. He realized his life would be a lot easier if everything just had an On and Off switch.

*

Luke couldn’t help but roll his eyes away as Ashton walked into the art room and he could see the wavy haired boy smirking at him but Luke refused to look at him again. He had already felt shitty enough all day and he just hoped that Ashton wouldn’t make it worse by trying to talk to him. He couldn’t focus on anything during the class and instead just watched Calum drawing this weird tree on his white piece of paper. Calum was much better at this class than Luke and the only reason Luke even like the class was because he could get away with not doing anything the entire time he was in there. The teacher never even tore her eyes away from her book for more than a few seconds. The voices in the room began to get louder as the end of the day began to get closer and Luke and Calum were just casually talking about some local band when Luke could feel a pair of eyes watching him. He looked away from Calum for just a few seconds and spotted Ashton glaring at him this time. Luke didn’t understand why Ashton still seemed to have a problem with him. Hell, he didn’t even understand why Ashton even had a problem with him to begin with. It was Brandon that he had apparently screwed over, not Ashton. Luke tried to continue listening to Calum talk as he doodled on his page but he could only focus on Ashton staring at him. Five minutes had passed, even though it seemed like hours, and Luke had finally had enough.

“What the fuck is your problem?” Luke said just loud enough for Ashton to hear him. If the class wasn’t being so loud right now surely everyone in the class would be looking at him. It for sure got Calum’s attention though and he could feel the boys worried eyes on him.

“My problem?” Ashton pointed at his own chest like he couldn’t believe Luke was talking to him. Luke just kept glaring at him as Ashton let out a low chuckle and stood up from his desk “I’ll tell you what my problem is, Luke” Luke felt himself sitting back in his seat as Calum gasped a little beside him “My problem is little bitches like you coming into my school thinking they’re hot shit when really the only reason you’ve won as many races as you have is because you’re a fucking cheater” the word felt like knives driving into Luke’s skin and he hoped it didn’t show on his face how upset the word made him feel. Sure Calum had called him a dirty racer but this was different and Luke knew it.

“Pushing a few kids off the track every once in a while doesn’t count as cheating in my book” Luke simply said as he looked back down to his paper. He knew he had been the one to officially start this but he already wanted it to end. He glanced up at the clock before Ashton was stepping closer to him, only a few feet away from him and Calum’s table.

“At least when I raced I did it fairly”

“Yeah?” Luke raised an eyebrow “And how many championships have you won?”

“Luke” Calum groaned beside him and he could see Calum putting his face in his hands. He glanced back up to see Ashton flexing his jaw and walking even closer.

“The only reason you wouldn’t race Brandon is because you know you don’t have it in you anymore” Luke did know it but he hated hearing Ashton say the words to him “You’re just worthless now and you know it” Luke let his eyes linger on Ashton for a few seconds more as anger boiled in his veins. The loud bell was what knocked Luke out of it and he was quickly standing up, not caring if Calum could keep up with him or not. He glanced over to see the teacher walking into a back room. “And your friend Cam there is just as bad as you” Luke stopped dead in his tracks and he could feel Ashton stepping closer to him “You and him both are two of the dirtiest racers I’ve ever fucking seen” Luke didn’t know what it was but something really snapped at him in that moment. It was one thing to hear Ashton repeatedly put him down but as soon as the boy mentioned Cam Luke felt a whole new kind of anger. Everything was coming back at him at once: how Ashton was so friendly to him, only to try and trick him into racing, how Brandon kept punching him in the stomach before he finally fell to the ground. Ashton was just saying all of this to get a rise out of Luke but Luke couldn’t help but give into it. He tightened his hands by his side and turned around to see Ashton directly behind him. It didn’t feel like any time had went by until Luke was crashing into Ashton and bringing him to the ground. He didn’t even know what the hell he was doing but he quickly got two punches at Ashton’s face and then Ashton was pushing Luke off of him and pinning him to the floor. Ashton was then hitting him in the eye that was still bruised from Brandon and Luke couldn’t help but cry out. It hurt ten times more than it usually would and in the distance he could see Calum panicking and not knowing what to do. Ashton got a few punches at Luke’s other eye, stomach and upper ribs before he was being pulled off of Luke by some red haired boy. Luke closed his eyes for a few seconds while he remained on the cold tile floor then Calum was standing above him and helping him up.

“What the hell did you do that for?” Calum whispered and Luke really wished he understood why Calum was so afraid of Ashton. Luke didn’t get a chance to respond because their teacher was standing in between him and Ashton and crossing her arms over her chest. Luke knew what was coming next.

*

Luke and Ashton sat in the chairs outside of the principal’s office with each of them on opposite sides. They were holding ice packets to their faces that the nurse was nice enough to give them and Luke kept closing his eyes wishing that the pain in his stomach would go away. That’s what was bothering him the most and he actually felt like Ashton had broken one of his ribs. Luke didn’t realize it when it was happening but Ashton had a much stronger punch than Brandon and he was feeling the after effect of it now. Before there had been too much adrenaline in him so he didn’t feel much but now he was suffering quite a bit. Brandon’s hits felt like someone simply pinching him compared to what he felt at this moment. Luke for some reason forced himself to open his eyes and seen Ashton glaring at him harshly once again. Luke looked away and chose to ignore it knowing that responding to Ashton’s hateful looks was what got him in this situation in the first place.

“Luke. Ashton” the principle had appeared and was opening the door for them. Luke tried not to groan as he was forced to use his stomach muscles to sit up. Ashton seemed to get up with no problem and Luke wished he would have gotten more punches in when he had him on the floor. Ashton sat down first and Luke tried not to feel too uncomfortable with sitting so close to him. The two chairs across from the principles desk were practically touching and Luke hoped this wouldn’t take too long.

“You wanna tell me what caused this fight?” the principle looked between them. Luke didn’t even know his name but he didn’t care. “Yeah I didn’t think so” he mumbled when they both just remained silent.

“Alright, Ashton you know the drill: Come back on Monday” the principle said before taking as sip of his coffee and then shooing Ashton out the door. Luke was about to get up and do the same but then the man was putting a hand up. The principle waited until Ashton had left and slammed the door behind him before speaking to Luke “So…three days in and you’re already being suspended. I think that’s a new record for this school” he didn’t sound impressed and Luke just wished he could leave already. He didn’t feel like being lectured because he knew he would be hearing enough from his parents and probably Calum too for doing something so stupid “Now Mr. Hemmings I realize that Ashton is a very hard person to get along with but that still doesn’t excuse what you did” Luke felt like just telling the man how Ashton had completely tricked him and screwed him over but he decided on keeping his mouth shut, hoping it would get him out of here faster “You can come back on Monday as well” the man continued when he realized that Luke wasn’t going to say anything “And I’ll be making a call to your parents

”Luke seen that one coming but still rolled his eyes.

“Can I go now?” he shot out and the principle just waved him out like he had done to Ashton.

*

When Luke got outside Calum was nowhere in sight but he didn’t know why he expected him to stick around. He guessed that it was because it was something Cam would do. Luke had to sit down on the bench and put his face in his hands at the thought of that and just realizing that he didn’t have Cam around anymore made him feel even worse than before. Suddenly Luke heard a whistle sound and looked to his right to see Michael walking towards him. He looked so good as he was in all black now with a black snapback laying backwards on his head. His smile died down a bit when he got closer to Luke and Luke looked away from him.

“You look like shit Hemmings” Michael said with a laugh at the end and Luke rolled his eyes even though he knew Michael couldn’t see him do it “You just can’t catch a break can you?”

“Apparently not” Luke mumbled as he leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and ran a hand through his hair. He could still feel Michael’s eyes on him but he didn’t want Michael to see how depressed he really was.

“Listen…” Michael actually spoke in a serious tone this time and it had Luke looking up to see him standing with his hands in his pockets. Luke tried not to get too worked up over how gorgeous he looked doing the most simple gestures “You look like you need some cheering up and I’m not the type of guy to just leave some sad kid in the parking lot” Luke was already smiling before Michael finished but then he was remembering what his dad was saying about trusting people. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Michael but he just wanted to play it safe.

“Do you remember what happened last time I got in some random guys truck?” Luke smirked a bit.

“Yeah I do” Michael laughed a little and moved his hands around in his pockets “I saved you from any further ass beatings and took you home” and Luke didn’t know why but he felt his stomach doing flips. He had been talking about how he got into Ashton’s truck and he knew that Michael knew that but instead Michael decided to bring up how he saved Luke. Luke felt himself blushing as Michael cocked up his eye brows under his sunglasses and smiled.

“But where are we going?” Luke was already standing up and walking towards Michael when he asked the question.

“To the fucking roller rink” Luke could hear the obvious sarcasm in his voice “You worry too much” and Luke knew he was right. He went around the passenger side and hopped in and watched Michael starting the truck and pull out of the parking lot. Luke honestly didn’t care where they were going, he just always wanted an excuse to talk to Michael more. Another thing that Luke really liked about Michael was that he hadn’t freaked out when they had first met like everyone else had. He didn’t think more highly of Luke like the rest of the people at that school did and Luke liked that. He didn’t like people acting like he was special just because he raced and was on TV. He liked how Michael treated him just like he was a normal kid “So who did it this time?” Michael suddenly said and Luke realized he was zoning out a bit.

“Hmm?” Luke said being suddenly brought out of the little daze he was in.

“The shiner” Michael took one hand off the wheel to point at Luke’s face.

“Oh yeah…” Luke took a deep breath “It was Ashton”

“I don’t know why everyone is out to get you” Michael said casually as he turned his blinker on.

“They all think I cheated…back when I raced”

“Do you think you cheated?” Michael looked serious again as he glanced at Luke and Luke was a bit stumped. He looked down to his lap and started messing with the fabric of his jeans.

“I umm…I don’t even know anymore. Maybe I did” Luke said quietly but he knew Michael had heard him when he hummed a little and looked back to the road. It was quite after that until they were pulling up to some little shack that was on the corner. It had small tables all around it and it reminded him of the types of buildings he would see in Florida “Where are we?” Luke had to ask because he couldn’t see a sign for it anywhere.

“I said I’d cheer you up didn’t I?” was all Michael said before he got out of the car and Luke followed as they walked up to window. He looked up to see a sign with different types of ice cream and he smiled to himself. Michael had taken him to get ice cream and it felt like such a domestic thing even though Luke knew Michael wasn’t seeing it that way. Michael was already ordering before he even looked up at the sign and Luke guessed that he came here often. Luke finally decided on a turtle sundae and then he was speaking to the old lady behind the window. He was starting to take his wallet out of his pocket and he had it in his hand now but then he felt Michael’s warm hand on his as he grabbed Luke’s wallet and then pressed it to Luke’s chest, not taking his eyes off the lady behind the counter as she made their ice creams, Luke liked the feeling of Michael touching him but he quickly grabbed a hold of his wallet so Michael didn’t think anything weird of it. The lady came back with their ice creams and Luke found himself smiling wide, with an evident blush on his face, as Michael paid for the both of them. Now this felt even more domestic than before and if Luke tried hard enough he could pretend that him and Michael were on a date. They went to go sit down on one of the picnic tables towards the back of the grass and Luke got caught up in watching the way Michael took small bites out of his ice cream as the wind blew some of the little hairs under his hat.

“Thanks for this” Luke finally said once he felt like his voice wasn’t going to be shaky. Michael just did a casual shrug as he looked out into the road and tapped his spoon on the plastic cup.

“You miss Florida?” Michael suddenly said and Luke wasn’t sure where the question came from. All he was doing was eating his ice cream and looking around, not trying to stare at Michael for too long.

“Yeah…for a lot of reasons”

“What do you miss the most?” Michael asked curiously before he took another bite and Luke got lost in the cute way he kept eating his ice cream. Luke has never thought anyone looked cute eating so he had no clue what was going on with him. He shook it off and tried to focus on the question.

“My friend Cam…” Luke looked to the left of them and realized he was always used to seeing the ocean almost everywhere he went “And the beach”

“You know we have those here, right?” Michael said in that cocky tone that Luke loved but Luke tried not to roll his eyes and just smiled.

“Really?” Luke used the same tone as Michael and it had the other boy smiling “Where are they hiding?”

“’Bout an hour from here” Luke just nodded and for some reason he pictured the ocean being further away. This desert they were in seemed to go on forever and it was hard to imagine anything else. Luke glanced up from his ice cream to see Michael already looking at him which he found strange because they hadn’t been talking for a couple of minutes now but it also gave him that flipping feeling in his stomach again. Michael looked away quickly. Luke could see his green eyes as he now had his sunglasses off and he just wished that he could be closer to Michael. They were only across the table from each other and that should have been enough for Luke but it just wasn’t. Instead he went back to finishing his ice cream and rested his chin on his hand as he looked out at passing cars.

“You know….” Michael was focusing on something behind Luke as he talked “You look different in person” Luke had to bite his lip from stop himself from smiling and he all of sudden didn’t know if Michael meant it as a good or bad thing.

“How so?” Luke said curiously. Michael started shaking his head a bit.

“I don’t know….” He licked his lips and Luke tried not to get too worked up about it. He ended failing to do so, of course “You barely ever smiled in interviews…but you’re always smiling now” Luke felt himself blushing.

“I do not” he said in some childish tone and Michael giggled, he actually _giggled_ , and Luke felt like his heart was about to burst.

“You’re doing it right now” Michael said still laughing and Luke just put a hand over his face “And you seemed older on TV” that had Luke taking a double look at Michael to see the boy…almost fondly looking at him. Luke knew he couldn’t be though. Michael just always had that kind of look on his face and Luke tried not to think he was special for getting to see it.

“Yeah…” Luke shrugged “Well I had to be really serious in interviews…plus I was usually pretty exhausted after the adrenaline wore off”

“You’re just not what I expected” Michael didn’t look at Luke when he spoke and Luke was glad for it because he knew he had gone a bit pale.

“Calum told me that I’m not an asshole like I seemed to be on TV” Luke could already see Michael holding back a laugh “Is this a nice way of you trying to tell me that?”

“No” Michael said getting a serious look on his face “I mean exactly what I said before”

“So it’s a good thing?” Luke asked shyly but he just had to know. Michael licked the remaining ice cream off his spoon and Luke felt his eyes following the movement. It was turning him on more than he would like to admit.

“It’s a good thing” Michael finally said with a smile on his face and Luke felt like he could relax again.

*

They ended up getting back in the truck a few minutes later even though Luke really didn’t want to leave. He felt like he could sit there with Michael for hours. When they pulled back into the school parking lot so Luke could get his car and drive home Michael ended up stopping him as he was stepping out of the car and getting ready to shut the door.

“Hey…” Michael seemed so small in this moment and Luke could swear he actually looked nervous which Luke wasn’t used to seeing. He was the nervous wreck here…not Michael “Let me see your phone” Luke got excited and smiled wide before taking his phone out of his pocket and handing it over to Michael with no questions asked. He watched as Michael typed over the screen and Luke felt his heart thumping in his chest with excitement. It felt like Michael was his first crush ever and Luke didn’t know what that meant. Michael smiled a little before handing the phone back to Luke “Just in case you get bored during your extra long weekend…and take care of those knuckles” Luke was confused for a second and looked down to see his knuckles all bruised with dry blood on them.

“He deserved it” Luke felt like he needed to say.

“I don’t doubt that he did. Feels good doesn’t it?” Michael said with a smirk and Luke didn’t know how much longer he could be around Michael without just leaning forward and kissing him until he couldn’t breathe. Luke simply nodded as he knew his cheeks were bright red. He began to wonder if Michael knew how much he was getting to him…he had to of known with how much Luke blushed.

“I’ll see ya Michael” Luke smiled back and he watched Michael nod then Luke was shutting the door. He made sure to look back at Michael one more time before he got to his car.

*

Luckily it wasn’t 6:00 yet so Luke’s mom wasn’t home to bitch at him but Luke knew it would be coming soon enough. He plopped down on the couch after grabbing a few things to eat from the fridge and he didn’t even know how long he just smiled down at his phone as he looked at Michael’s number. He only tore his eyes away from the contact name when he seen that he had three missed calls from Cam and he hadn’t known how he had missed them honestly, probably too caught up in Michael. He quickly pressed the call button, thinking that Cam had some sort of emergency and the boy picked up on the 4th ring.

“Hello?”

“Hey...I seen you called. What’s up?” he heard Cam do a little laugh and he knew straight away that this wasn’t a serious matter.

“I really should be resorting that question back to you”

“What do you mean?”

“Your mom told me what happened”

“Okay but why are you talking on the phone with my mom…that’s fucking weird, Cam”

“Simmer down” Cam laughed again “She’s just worried about you”

“Yeah well it’s not my fault that practically everyone here hates me”

“Why do they hate you?” Cam said after a pause.

“I don’t know” Luke mumbled. He knew why but he really didn’t feel like going into it for what felt like the hundredth time.

“Well let me know how things go at school tomorrow” and Luke bit at his lip like a little kid.

“I won’t…I won’t be going to school tomorrow” Luke said quietly.

“Yeah? And whys that?”

“Igotsuspened” Luke shot out in nervousness.

“Suspended?” Cam said in shocked voice. At their old school Luke had never even been in detention, let alone suspended.

“Yeah cause I punched the kid who took me out to the desert” Luke had to admit that he felt a little proud of himself.

“Jesus, Luke” Luke could tell Cam was running a hand over his face “Well I’m not gonna bitch at you…I know you’ll get enough of that when your parents get home”

“Yeah I know…they’ll probably barricade me in my room. I’ll have to sneak out” Luke doesn’t even know why he said that last part but he instantly regrets it.

“Oooooo” Cam drags on with an obvious smirk on his face “Who you sneaking out to see, Lukey?”

“My friends” Luke said quickly “It might surprise you but I have made a couple of them”

“Really? Cause it sounds like you were talking about a very specific person”

“Well I wasn’t” Luke shot out.

“Well it’s obvious that you were cause you’re getting so defensive about it” Cam laughed “But I won’t push any more. I’m sure I’ll get to meet him in May” Cam knew about Luke’s sexuality before anyone else did so Luke wasn’t fazed when he had said “he”.

“Yeah…hopefully” Luke smiled.

“Is he a racer?” Cam felt the need to ask.

“No” Luke giggled “He rides freestyle actually. He’s fucking amazing at it. I’ve never seen anything like it”

“Yeah he’s probably crazy as fuck. Those guys always are”

“You’d like him though…” Luke again felt pathetic for blushing when he was only talking about Michael.

“I’m sure I will” Cam laughed and Luke laughed with him until he looked up to see his mother pulling in the driveway.

“Shit” Luke groaned as he let his head fall back in the couch “My mom just pulled in”

“Well I’ll leave you to it. Good luck”

“See ya…this might be the last time we ever talk” Luke said in a dead serious tone and Cam laughed.

“Don’t be dramatic”

“You won’t be laughing when I’m dead” Luke said quickly as he seen his mom getting out of the car with an obvious scowl “I gotta go, man”

“Bye, Lukey” Cam said in a song type tone.

“Bye” Luke threw his phone on the couch just as his mother was walking in the door. She instantly stood at the end of the living room and crossed her arms. Luke put on his best smile but she still didn’t give in “Hi mommy” all she did was shake her head at his obvious attempt to suck up to her and Luke knew he was in for it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait guys! I haven't been able to get on the internet but hey I think the break was good for me because I finished like 3 chapters. I hope this chapter makes up for me not updating in a while..I'm super proud of it and Luke and Michael's relationship is finally starting to go somewhere. Let me know how you like it! And thank you to everyone who has stuck by this fic :)

_When Luke entered his own house it felt foreign to him. He really hadn’t been in the hospital for very long but he had actually forgotten what his own house smelled like. He knew he would be happy to be able to eat normal food and he couldn’t wait to actually sleep in his own bed. What he wasn’t looking forward to was not being able to do a lot of things by himself. His mother had to help him do the most simple things like reaching up to get him a glass and helping him up the stairs. The stairs were the most difficult thing and Luke knew he would only be spending three months in the wheelchair but it felt like a lifetime. He hated having to ask with help for everything and he actually started to feel like a burden to his mom so sometimes he’d just sit on the couch all day and try getting up as less as possible. Luke’s father had stayed back in California for an unknown reason and Luke thought it was very strange how his mother wouldn’t tell him why his dad had stayed back and not gone home with them. His mother could sure use the help and Luke was actually a bit upset that his father wasn’t coming home to help. Luke was basically crippled and his mother needed all the help she could get._

_It was now exactly a week since the accident and Luke was laying on the couch running his eyes over the TV. He promised Cam that he would watch every one of his races on TV and he planned on keeping that promise to him. The race was just starting so the camera was doing a once over the track and Luke could almost picture himself there. He actually got a bit emotional wishing that he was. When the heat race began Luke frantically looked around for his friend but came up with nothing. He knew Cam wouldn’t miss the race so he just kept roaming his eyes around. Finally he spotted Cam’s KTM and smiled wide when he seen that he was in 2nd place. Sure, it was only the heat race but it was a good sign that Cam was doing so well so early on. Luke could see that Cam was on top of his game as he cut the corners with ease and ended up passing the guy who was in 1st place. Luke sat up, getting excited, as he watched Cam have a very good lead on all the other racers._

_“How’s cam doing?” Luke’s mom suddenly appeared in the living room with a dish rag still in her hand._

_“He’s doing great” Luke said quickly sparing her a glance before looking back to the TV “He’s in first place right now” Luke’s mother examined her son for a few seconds seeing how he was sitting on the edge of his seat and she felt her heart breaking a bit. It was obvious how badly Luke wanted to be there but he knew that he would have to wait another year for it. She smiled, even though she knew he was looking away, and went back into the kitchen. Luke took a double look to where she had been standing before and was a bit confused as why she was just standing there staring at him. He was just tired of people feeling bad for him all the time. Sure, he had been in an accident that ended with him being in a wheelchair but he was still a normal kid and it wasn’t as if he was a sick. Luke did feel strangely tired but he knew it was just because of how lazy he had to be. He was just so used to be active that when he wasn’t anymore it really hit him hard. Maybe Cam was right, maybe this break was what he needed. It had been so long since he just relaxed and this whole “sitting on the couch all day” thing was all brand new to him. Luke’s eyes were glued right back to the TV when the commercial ended and the actual race began. They showed a few of the riders who were sitting behind the gates, fixing their goggles and helmets or just staring straight ahead. Cam was the 4th one they showed as he pursed his lips and quickly pushed his helmet down. Luke smiled when he seen his friend and it felt so strange seeing him on TV like this. Of course when he was racing he never watched the races on TV because he was there. The gates went down and the riders sped down the track and Luke held his breath as the camera showed Cam turning a sharp corner but he ended up doing it with ease and Luke could breathe again. He always kept his eye on Cam as he raced around the track and Luke couldn’t believe how nervous he was for him. Maybe this was how his parents felt when they watched him race and he understood why they always seemed to be so stressed after the races._   
_Luke, for some reason, started to zone out a bit as he kept his eyes on the TV and it felt like he was blinking and it was already over. He remembers Cam crossing the finish line in first place and he remembers how Cam almost didn’t make one of the jumps but other than that it was a blur and Luke was a bit confused on what happened during the rest of the race. When he was actually racing sometimes that would happen to him too where he would get so much into it that it seemed like he was on auto-pilot as he made it through the track. Now that the race was over Luke felt pretty empty again and didn’t have anything to look forward to; Except for the race that was the following weekend but that seemed like a long ways away. Luke felt a little bit better when his mother was bringing him his diner that was chicken and mashed potatoes and then setting down a big glass of milk on the end table beside him. It was a bit sad how the thing that Luke looked forward to the most was what he was going to eat for diner. He felt pathetic. He also started to think about how that could have been him winning first place at the race. Luke was of course happy for his best friend but another part of him was jealous that it was Cam instead of him. He knew he could have won that race; he had done it last year. Luke just needed to stop thinking about how badly he wanted to finish the season. He needed to focus on staying healthy and just looking forward to the next season. There was always next season and Luke had to keep telling himself that next summer would be his year._

  
*

Luke and Michael had been texting back and forth for the past two days. Calum had sent him a few texts as well but Luke didn’t respond to any of them. He felt pretty shitty about it but it was just that that the only person Luke wanted to talk to was Michael; not to mention that he was almost positive that Calum would just bitch at him for what he did to Ashton. Luckily his mother took the suspension a lot better than he thought she would when he actually explained why he had done what he did. She was quite understanding of it and agreed not to tell Luke’s father that he had been suspended. Luke was very thankful for it because he knew his dad wouldn’t take it as easily. Right now though the only thing on Luke’s mind was Michael, basically that was all he thought about now days. Although Luke got to know him better these past few days he still couldn’t help feeling nervous as he sat in his car with his hands on the steering wheel. It had been what he was doing for the past 10 minutes after Michael told him to come over. Luke was excited about seeing Michael, there was no doubt about that, but he knew this would be a lot more different than when they hung out at the ice cream shop. He was going to Michael’s actual house and Luke hoped he could keep it together so Michael wouldn’t think he was weird for constantly blushing and laughing at everything the other boy said. Luke looked down at his phone once more to see the address that Michael had sent him and then he was starting his car. He really missed Michael and the longer he sat in his driveway the longer he would have to wait to see him. Luke pulled out of his driveway and felt himself smiling at how after an hour of talking to Michael the boy had texted him: “Just come over” Luke doesn’t think he had ever been so excited to see someone and he was all giddy and acting like he was going on his first date ever as he got showered and got dressed. It was when he got into the car that he started to feel nervous because he would have all that free time with Michael and he hoped that he wouldn’t fuck it up. It wasn’t like Michael got offended easily but it was just that Luke had never liked anyone as much as Michael and Luke was afraid that it was too good to be true. Luke had to keep reminding himself that he wasn’t even sure if Michael even liked him back. That thought had Luke feeling uneasy as he pulled onto Michael’s road but he tried not to let it bother him. If Luke looked like some love sick puppy when he walked into Michael’s house Michael would for sure notice it and ask what was wrong and Luke would have to lie to him; Luke didn’t want to lie to him. There was something so honest about Michael and Luke just knew he could trust him. Luke hoped that Michael felt the same about him.

Michael’s house was slightly out of the city limits and out here it actually felt like the air was thinner. It wasn’t so out in the desert that Luke felt too secluded but it also wasn’t in the city where he felt like he was trapped. The brown house had a large deck all the way around the top floor and it was way nicer than Luke’s house. The yard was quite big and Luke tilted his head to see something that looked like a track behind the house. Luke got out of the car after trying to calm himself down and then he slammed his door before making his way towards the front door. He knew Michael’s parents were away for the weekend, Michael had told him, so he figured he could just walk right in the house like Michael figured he would. Luke was then taking a double look at the large disconnected garage and he could see Michael sitting on small seat right below his bike. Luke felt like a creep just smiling at the boy as he worked on his bike but Luke just couldn’t help it. Michael was shirtless and had the music from the stereo blaring some Avenged Sevenfold song as he had his head bent down messing with something under the bike. Luke finally decided to start walking towards him and since the music was so loud he wasn’t sure how to get his attention without scaring the boy. Now that Luke was closer it was impossible for him to not run his eyes over the boys’ pale back as his muscles popped out every time he squeezed his hand around the tool. Michael always turned Luke on no matter what he was doing but seeing Michael getting his hands dirty and working like this was really getting him going. Luke rolled his eyes at himself for being so head over heels for this guy then turned down the volume on the stereo to get Michael’s attention. He just had to put himself out of his misery but when Michael looked up at him with his green eyes that were glistening from the sun he felt his heart speeding up and he was feeling more love sick than before.

“Did you get lost?” Michael smiled playfully at him and Luke bit his lip as he stuck his hands in his pockets. Michael wasn’t wearing a hat and some of his hair was sticking to his forehead. Luke watched him brush it back and then cleared his throat.

“Oh umm…yeah” Luke lied. He didn’t want to tell Michael that he just sat in his car for 10 minutes thinking about how nervous he was about coming over. Michael smiled up at him for a few more seconds then he was looking away and patting a small chair close to his bike.

“Take a seat” he said easily then he went back to focusing on his bike “I’m almost done” Luke walked into the garage and took a seat and leaned forward trying to see what Michael was actually working on. Luke let his eyes linger down to Michael’s biceps but put his eyes on the floor as Michael looked up at him. He knew that he looked at Michael a lot and that it was probably creepy but it was just that Michael was so beautiful. He knows that it would always surprise him just how beautiful the boy really was.

“How’s school been?” Luke knew it was a stupid question as soon as he let it slip through his lips but Michael just chuckled while keeping his eyes off of Luke.

“Shitty as always” he said simply “Ashton looked pretty banged up” he looked up and smiled wider at Luke “Nice job”

“Yeah” Luke forced out a laugh and ran a hand through his hair “I just hope it gets him off my back”

“He won’t ever fully be off your back” Michael said seriously “He’s hard to get rid of but I’m sure he respects you a bit more now”

“You know when Ashton first took me to the desert I got this idea in my head that you two were friends” Luke didn’t know where he was going with this but it was thing that was confusing him. Michael seemed to know a lot about Ashton but at the same time he never actually acted like they were friends.

“Were not friends” Michael said sternly.

“So you didn’t know that he was taking me to race Brandon that day?” Luke missed Michael’s eyes on him and he knew that question would get Michael’s attention. It did when Michael stopped moving his hand and just looked at Luke for a few seconds. Luke watched him get up walk over to the tool bench that was against the wall. He was wearing a loose pair of light washed jeans and Luke let his eyes roam down his body now that Michael wasn’t looking at him but he also wasn’t answering Luke’s question and that worried him a bit. Michael looked over the counter and grabbed something before walking back over the bike and sitting on the stool.

“Of course I did” Michael said confidently and Luke froze “It was my idea” Luke all of a sudden didn’t feel so safe with Michael and it was as if all his trust for the boy went down the drain in a matter of seconds.

“It was…” Luke practically whispered and he meant it to be a question but he was so shocked that he couldn’t finish his sentence. Michael took a double look at him then he was smiling and sitting up straight.

“Stop looking at me like I betrayed you, Hemmings” Michael laughed out and Luke felt the seriousness of the conversation dying down. Michael took a deep breath and Luke was glad when it seemed like he was going to explain himself “When word started getting around that you were coming into town Brandon got all pissy and decided that he wanted to kick your ass for stealing the championship away from him. Instead of some brutal beat down I proposed to him that you guys race and settle it that way” Luke figured that was fair. There was no way that Michael didn’t know that he didn’t race anymore and he started to relax. Michael was still eying him suspiciously like he was wondering what Luke was thinking though. Luke took his eyes off the ground and focused on the other boy.

“But I ended up getting my ass kicked anyways…” Luke said jokingly and did a tight smile.

“Yeah and whose fault was that?” Michael said in the same joking tone as he raised his eyebrows. Luke hated that Michael was right and just shook his head and looked away again. If he would have just raced Brandon then Brandon would have stopped messing with him.

“I just can’t do it anymore” Luke said honestly, tone thick with pain, and in the corner of his eye he could see Michael’s jaw tensing.

“I just figured that if anyone could beat Brandon it would be you ….” Michael took a deep breath and went back to his bike “Guess we’ll never know” his voice sounded a bit angry but Luke looked up to see him shrugging a bit.

“I don’t get why everyone has so much faith in me” Luke complained and by everyone he meant Calum and Michael but it had Michael looking at him again with a serious face.

“I don’t get why you don’t” Michael spoke sternly. Luke just shook his head and looked past Michael “We don’t have to talk about it anymore” and Luke felt his heart swelling up at how soft Michael’s voice sounded. He had never heard him talk like that and he was so glad that it was directed at him. He had to say something to make Michael feel that same way he was feeling though.

“I honestly don’t even get why you think so highly of me when you have way more talent that I do” Luke said it casually but really it was a way of him saying how impressed he was by Michael’s riding. Michael laughed and shook his head before standing up once again and putting his tool back on the counter. He seemed to be thinking about the compliment as he looked around the garage and Luke was so glad that he said it. Michael leaned against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest before focusing on Luke again.

“We have different kinds of talent…it doesn’t mean I’m better than you”

“Well I think you are” Luke said stubbornly like no matter what Michael said he would still think that the other boy is more talented than him.

“Well you’re wrong” Michael shot back at him and Luke had to hold back a laugh at how dumb this argument was.

“Well that’s your opinion”

“I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree” Luke smiled wide and for once he didn’t feel so nervous around Michael. Michael smiled back at him but let it fade as he looked away “I do know one thing I can beat your ass at though” Michael said smugly and Luke loved his confident tone so much. It was such a turn on for him and Luke again felt himself getting flustered. Luke just nodded and knew he would agree to practically anything that Michael wanted him to do.

*

Luke was now sitting on Michael’s couch with the remote that Michael threw to him before he started walking up the spiral stair case. Michael had said that he had to take a quick shower and then he planned on beating Luke at some motocross game and Luke was so shit at video games so he knew that Michael would. He skimmed through the channels trying not to think about the fact that Michael was upstairs showering. He bit at his lip as he finally settled on some cooking show just knowing he needed to get his mind off of dirty things like that. Michael probably wasn’t even into guys so Luke felt pretty wrong for picturing him naked, even if he was into guys Luke still had to push the thought aside before he got too caught up. Michael was coming down the stairs a few minutes later and Luke watched him bend down next to the TV and grab the two controllers out of the cupboard. His hair was still damp and he was now wearing basketball shorts and a loose Metallica shirt with some holes in it. Soon Michael was plopping down next to them to where their legs were only a few inches apart and Luke could smell the strong smell of body wash on him. Luke swore he felt himself getting dizzy at how good it smelled then Michael was tossing the controller on his lap.

“Alright” Michael quickly moved his fingers across the buttons and already seemed very focused. “Have you played this before?”

“No” Luke said simply then he felt himself getting more brave “I was too busy actually racing” Michael chuckled at the comment straight away.

“I wouldn’t get too cocky, Hemmings” Michael fired back at him and Luke was straight back to feeling nervous again. They started the race and Luke could already feel like he was going to totally suck at it. The game was a lot more sensitive than he thought and he had to stop himself from taking too sharp of turns or going too fast, which made him be way behind where Michael was. On the third lap he started to get the hang of it better but he was still in last place. Sometimes he would get into 4th or 5th place but end up getting behind again when he came up to this big hill that he just couldn’t ever clear. Every time he couldn’t clear it he just thought back to his actual accident and a chill ran through his body. The first time it happened Michael had noticed Luke shake a bit and took a double look at him but then he was straight back to looking at the game. He knew that certain jump was coming up again and he tensed his legs a bit and held onto the controller tightly. He knew it was just a game but he just had to clear it this time. It was really slowing him down and if he finished this race in last place he knows that Michael would probably be a bit ashamed of him. After, all he used to be a professional motocross racer but he couldn’t even succeed at the video game version of it; it would be a bit sad. Luke made sure to hit the throttle at the right time and then he was clearing the hill with ease. He felt himself smiling.

“There ya go” Michael said proudly and Luke didn’t feel like such a failure now that he was in 4th place. He rounded the next corners easily after that and that had him catching up to the guy that was in 3rd place. Luke ended up finishing the race in 3rd place but he thought he did pretty decent for playing for the first time. Luke dropped his controller onto his lap and let his head fall back on the couch “Not bad...not bad”

“Thanks” Luke shyly mumbled and then Michael was leaning forward and setting his controller on the coffee table.

“Alright, I think I boosted my ego enough” and Luke laughed at that.

“And thanks for adding another bruise to mine”

“Oh” Michael looked at him and smirked. Luke felt his cheeks heating up at the charming stare and had to look down at his lap. He had a feeling that Michael knew damn well what he did to him “And just when did I bruise your ego the first time?”

“When ummm” Luke shrugged “When we were at the desert” he felt Michael turning in the couch so that he was facing Luke and there was no way Luke could escape his stare now.

“So you were intimidated?” Michael used that same cocky tone and Luke swore that if he didn’t stop it then he would be popping a boner in a matter of seconds. Luke just nodded at the question, not trusting his voice “How long were you watching me?” Luke felt his heartbeat pick up and the tension was getting thicker but it felt like sexual tension. Luke knew he was reading the situation wrong though because there was no way in hell Michael was hitting on him right now.

“A w-while” Luke decided to be completely honest, there was no point in lying “It was hard to look at anyone else”

“Hmm” Michael hummed smugly to himself and Luke could see him briefly look away before his eyes were right back to burning a hole on the side of his face “And you were still looking at me when I wasn’t riding?” Luke couldn’t believe where this conversation was going. Before it had just been innocent fun but now Luke felt straight up humiliated and Michael was entirely to blame. He was doing this to Luke on purpose just to see him squirm. Luke didn’t know why but it was turning him on. He realized right then that everything that Michael did turned him on. He was trying to desperately think of something snarky to say back but Luke’s brain wasn’t working correctly. It never did when Michael was around. Instead he finally decided to make eye contact with Michael when he spoke.

“So what if I was” Luke almost widened his eyes, not knowing where that came from especially since Michael was now starting straight at him. Michael looked offended for a few seconds then he was slowly smiling. Luke felt like leaning forward and doing what he wanted to do since day one of meeting Michael. With the way Michael was looking at him he actually felt like he was allowed to. Michael kept flicking his eyes downward and it was giving Luke chills.

“I’m hungry” Michael said standing up and changing his tone to a more friendly one. He was acting as if they hadn’t just had a stare down after having an intense conversation that had Luke just wanting to run his hands all over Michael. Luke just stared blankly up at him and it was probably obvious that he was a bit annoyed. He just wanted to kiss Michael “You hungry?”

“Yeah…yeah a little” Luke really wasn’t at all but he wanted an excuse for Michael to be close to him again. He felt so far away from him now.

“Come along then” Michael cracked another smile then he was walking away. Luke let out a breath and followed him into the large kitchen. Michael was then silently telling Luke to sit down on the stool at the long bar that was on the other side of the dishwasher and stove. He watched Michael lean against the door of the fridge as he dug through it. He was then opening the freezer and taking out a box of frozen waffles. Luke actually did feel himself getting hungry cause ever since he started eating junk food regularly frozen waffles have been the main thing he was eating because he was addicted to them “You like waffles?” Michael turned and raised the box in the air a little. Luke nodded and then went back to sulking a bit. He knew that Michael was just teasing him back when they were in the living room; there was no way Michael would want to kiss him but he knew that Luke wanted it so he decided to tease him a bit. That’s what Luke decided was Michael’s reasoning and it pissed him off a bit. He glanced up to see Michael grabbing the butter and syrup then leaning over the counter and Luke instantly looked down as he felt Michael’s eyes on him “Why are you pouting?” Michael asked playfully and Luke almost gave in and smiled but forced himself not to.

“Hmm?” Luke asked but he had heard Michael very clearly.

“You’re pouting”

“Am not” and Luke didn’t realize how childish he sounded until Michael chuckled at him. Michael just loved making him feel small and Luke glared at him a bit as he turned around and put the waffles onto two plates. Michael was then setting the plate in front of Luke and Luke did smile when he seen that Michael put butter on it for him. He looked up to see a similar smile on Michael’s face and all of a sudden Luke wasn’t mad at him anymore; he realized it was impossible for him to be mad at him for very long. They both ate their waffles reasonably fast and then Michael was leading them back into the living room. Michael sat down first but Luke made sure not to sit too close to him again, he knows how much it got to him the last time. Michael flicked on some Adam Sandler movie and they stayed silent but Luke really felt like Michael wanted to say something but he was holding it back. Luke looked at him and gave him a friendly smile hoping that it would give him the courage to say it or just say something. Instead Michael just gave a smile back and looked to the TV once again. Luke had to force himself not to let out a sigh but instead he just slumped down in the couch more.

*

Luke woke up to the feeling of something hard against his cheek and also something soft rubbing through his hair.

“Luke” a voice whispered and then the rubbing in his hair started again. It was so soothing and Luke never wanted it to stop but then he was opening his eyes and he remembered where he was. He realized the hard surface was actually Michael’s shoulder and he quickly sat up but he was still so close to Michael that he could feel his breath on his face. It was making Luke get that dizzy feeling again and the feeling just got worse when he looked straight into Michael’s eyes. Michael was looking his face up and down again and Luke began to think that he could actually do it; he could kiss Michael. He seen Michael quickly flicked his gaze down to his lips and Luke was about to just dive forward and kiss him but Michael beat him to it. Luke was still in shock as Michael’s soft lips pressed up against his and Luke just felt frozen. Michael moved his lips slightly and then he was pulling back right before Luke felt like he was able to kiss him back. Luke thought the sadness from Michael pulling back was written all over his face but realized that Michael read the look as something totally different when he stood up and didn’t look at Luke for a few seconds “You can umm….” Michael glanced at Luke and Luke knew his eyes were still wide but also screaming “no come back” “You can crash out here” he gestured to the couch and Luke knew this was all wrong. He didn’t even get to kiss Michael back because he was too shocked to even make his lips move. Michael looked somewhere between angry and sad as he looked at Luke once more before going up the stairs.

“Michael” Luke managed to get out, even thought he had no idea what to say. He just wanted a re-do. He finally had Michael kissing him like he’d wanted from day one and couldn’t even get it together enough to kiss him back. He literally felt like pushing himself off a bridge. Michael didn’t turn around when he spoke though and Luke watched him go into the room right at the top of the stairs as he left the door cracked open. Luke just stared at it without even blinking until his eyes got so dry that they felt like they were on fire and then he leaned forward and rested his face in his hands. He knew he couldn’t let this happen though; he couldn’t just let Michael slip through his fingers like that. Luke stood up quickly and started making his way towards the stairs. Michael was probably up there right now thinking that Luke didn’t want the kiss and that was the farthest thing from the truth; if Michael even knew how badly Luke has wanted to kiss him. When Luke was standing right in front of Michael’s doorway he felt all the courage drain out of him but he couldn’t let himself back out of this. He wanted it so bad; he wanted Michael so bad. Luke took a deep breath and pushed the door open. His heart skipped a beat when he seen Michael laying on his side and facing the wall underneath a thick comforter. He could see his bare shoulders and the slight movement of him breathing “Michael” Luke said as quietly as possible so he didn’t startle the boy. Michael instantly lifted his head up and looked worried.

“You okay?” that soft tone of Michael’s had come back and Luke loved it so much. Luke wasn’t okay though; not at all. Luke shook his head and he knew Michael had seen him do it. Michael opened his mouth a few times like he wanted to say something but then he shut it for good and just leaned his head back on his pillow. Luke took that as his queue and walked more into the room. He already started to feel better, the closer he got to Michael and he felt himself smiling. Luke slipped under the covers and got only a few inches away from the sleepy boy. Luke got lost in Michael’s eyes for a few seconds then he got even closer and looked all over Michael’s face like Michael had done to him.

“I didn’t want you to stop” Luke whispered and before Michael had a chance to respond Luke was leaning forward and kissing him hard. Luke gained more confidence when he felt Michael kissing him back just as hard and he lifted his hand up to start rubbing it through the back of Michael’s hair. Luke couldn’t help but let out a moan when Michael put a hand under his shirt and started rubbing it up his side a few times then he moved it to rub up his chest. Luke knew having Michael touch him would be amazing but he never realized that it would be making him feel like he could come just from that alone when Michael wasn’t even anywhere near his dick. Right then he felt Michael moving his hand lower until it was right at his crotch and Luke grinded forward into his hand. Luke started slowly rubbing his tongue against Michael’s and then their kiss slowed down a bit as they both breathed heavy. Michael’s hand pressed harder into Luke’s dick though and Luke let out a louder and more desperate moan into Michael’s mouth. He felt Michael smile against his lips and it was all too much for Luke to handle. He backed away from Michael’s lips a little but was immediately pressing his face into Michael’s neck and just breathing him in. Michael’s skin was so warm and intoxicating then Luke started pressing open mouth kisses all down his neck. He shivered when Michael started undoing his jeans but then his hand left Luke’s dick and he became caught up in rubbing up Luke’s chest again as Luke continued to kiss up his neck as he gripped one hand on his hip, rubbing his thumb against the skin. Soon Michael was helping Luke get out his shirt and then his jeans as they both laid there grinding against each other in just their boxers. For a few seconds they just laid there staring at each other as they caught their breath but then Michael was grabbing Luke’s jaw and bringing their lips together. Luke let out a moan at Michael’s roughness and started grinding up against him again. Luke put one leg over Michael and brought him closer as they kissed hard and Michael fisted his hand in Luke’s hair. Luke couldn’t stop rubbing his hands all over Michael’s back and chest; touching the places that he had only been able to dream of touching. Luke already felt so close but he didn’t want this to end so soon, or at all really, so he stopped grinding against the boy and quickly pulled down Michael’s boxers. Luke couldn’t help but run his hand down Michael’s ass and squeeze at the skin and he kept focusing on the boys ass after Michael let out a lustful groan. Luke dug his nails into Michael’s ass when Michael started licking into his mouth then Luke got a hand on his dick. This time it was Michael’s turn to moan loudly as Luke slid his thumb against the slit and sped up the pace of his hand. Luke swore it was the most beautiful sound he’d ever heard and he needed to hear it again. Michael moved his lips to start sucking bruises on Luke’s neck and Luke started twisting his hand in a way that he knew he loved himself. Michael grinded into his hand and bit at his neck, making Luke just about come from the feeling of the boys’ teeth on his skin. Luke used his other hand to start squeezing at Michael’s ass again and he realized that was a thing he really liked doing.

“F-fuck Luke” Michael moaned loudly and Luke smiled because that was the first time Michael had actually called him by his first name and he loved the sound of it. Luke started speeding up his hand as he still massaged his hand into Michael’s ass “Fuck just like that” Luke heard himself whimpering at the sound of Michael’s deep and desperate voice and he moved his head down to lick and kiss at Michael’s shoulder. Michael was coming onto Luke’s hand only a few seconds later after he shivered and let out a few more moans. Hearing Michael moan and whimper into his neck was a thing that had a shiver running down Luke’s whole body and he could feel himself getting that much closer. Michael caught his breath and gave his neck a few more kisses before he was pushing Luke onto his back and straddling his hips. He instantly began putting kisses all down Luke’s chest and Luke shivered again as Michael rubbed a hand into his cock. Michael leaned up a little to start sucking on one of Luke’s nipples and Luke reached out to grasp on hard to Michael’s bicep. Michael started making his way down Luke’s chest again until he was just above his boxers waistband and he licked at the skin there causing Luke to buck up and let out a moan “Been wanting you like this so bad, Luke” Luke just whimpered and tried not to let Michael’s voice alone make him come. He took in a deep breath when Michael pulled his boxers down and instantly began pressing open mouth kisses up his dick. Michael got to the head and started sucking on it hard and Luke knew he was going to come within a minute or less. Michael’s mouth felt so good and Luke knew he wouldn’t last much longer. Michael took Luke’s entire dick in his mouth at once and Luke let out loud moan that ended in a whimper as he pressed his head back into the pillow and pulled at his own hair. He felt his eyes nearly rolling back in his head as Michael started using his tongue on the tip every time he would come back up.

“M-Michael” Luke breathed out and rubbed a hand through the boys hair “Michael I’m close” Michael simply moaned around his dick and it had Luke tensing up and coming down his throat. Michael kept sucking on his dick hard as Luke was coming down from it then he brought his lips all the way off of it. He rested his hands on the bed as he licked his lips and looked up and down Luke’s chest moving in a fast motion as he tried to catch his breath. Luke kept his eyes on Michael the whole time and then Michael was leaning up and pressing light kisses on Luke’s neck. Luke wrapped his legs around Michael’s waist and brought him down to lay entirely on top of him. Michael melted into Luke’s touch as Luke ran his hands up and down his back and he pressed his face into Luke’s neck.

“I didn’t kiss you back when we were downstairs because I was just so shocked” Luke felt like he needed to say and he felt Michael chuckle against his neck before he was using his elbows to rest above Luke.

“Why were you shocked?” Michael asked curiously but he still had a smile on his face.

“I didn’t think you were like…into me” Luke said honestly and he knew he was blushing. Michael just shook his head like it was the dumbest thing he’s ever heard.

“Luke…” Michael looked lost for words for a few seconds “Luke I’ve been into ever since I seen you win your first championship” the world seemed to stop around him to where Luke could only focus on this beautiful boy in front of him. Luke also felt that shocked feeling come back to him like it had before and he let his mouth fall open a little.

“Ever since….ever since 2013?” Luke whispered, merely because he couldn’t get himself to talk any louder. Michael had liked him all this time and really Luke had worried all for nothing. He was always worrying that Michael would never like him back and now that all seemed pointless.

“Yeah” Michael looked up and down his face a few times before looking out the window “I was watching the race on TV when I was at some shitty party. You got up to get your trophy” Michael smiled and looked back to Luke “I remember you had the biggest smile on your face and I didn’t even realize that I was smiling too just from seeing you so happy. That track was fucking tough as hell but you made it look so easy…I don’t think I’ve seen anyone race the way you did that day” Luke didn’t even realize he was crying until he felt Michael rub his thumb against this cheek and Luke closed his eyes as Michael leaned down to kiss him in that same spot.

“I miss it, Michael” Luke tried not to let his voice come out too rough but it did anyways.

“I know” Michael said softly as he wiped at Luke’s cheek again and ran a hand through the front of his hair “But you still got it in you…I know you do, Luke”

“I’m scared though” Luke admitted out loud for the first time ever and he was surprised that he didn’t regret it. He just trusted Michael.

“Of what?” Michael used that same soft tone.

“Failing…not riding as well as I did before” Luke blinked back a few more tears and took a deep breath. Michael seemed to be lost in thought as he looked past Luke and bit at his lip.

“It’ll come back to you. I know it will. If you want it bad enough it’ll come back” Luke managed a smile and let his hand run down Michael’s spine as he felt goosebumps begin to form.

“I’ll try…but can you promise me one thing?” Luke said biting at his lip.

“Anything” Michal said quickly, sensing Luke’s nervousness.

“You’ll be there with me” at Luke’s words Michael smiled the most beautiful smile that Luke has ever seen.

“I wouldn’t miss it”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! Hopefully I'll be updating regularly again and I hope you love this chapter. I actually like this one better than the last and I feel like its pretty long (its 8k) Let me know how you like it! (Sidenote: my Neck Deep and State Champs concert was last night and it was fucking amazing omg. Post concert depression is already kicking in)

_“This room…..” Cam glanced around with wide eyes as he seen all the candy wrappers, chip bags and clothes thrown all across the floor. Luke just rolled his eyes back to the TV as Cam looked shocked as to how messy the room was._

_“Hi” Luke simply said and Cam just took a double look at him before picking up a few shirts that were by the door and threw away a few chip bags. Cam was a bit of a clean freak so seeing Luke’s room like this was driving him insane and Luke knew exactly where this was going. He decided to let Cam clean for him for a few minutes though._

_“How did you even manage to make it this messy?” Cam continued to whine “You can’t even walk”_

_“Thanks…I almost forgot” Luke said in the same dry tone and he still watched as Cam began throwing clothes into the hamper “You don’t have to clean for me” Luke knew he wouldn’t listen though._

_“Somebody has to” Cam walked across the room to the window to pick up more clothes and open the curtains. The sudden bright sunlight caused Luke to roll over on his stomach and press his face into his pillow. Cam chuckled when the blond boy groaned._

_“Would you stop cleaning? Come on, I haven’t seen you in like a fucking month”_

_“Fine” Cam picked up a few more items when Luke wasn’t looking then sat at the end of his bed “But I’ll be doing it later”_

_“So how is it out there?” Luke took his face out of the pillow._

_“What out in the real world?” Cam laughed and Luke nodded “I don’t know…different without you”_

_“I’m being serious” Luke said quickly._

_“So am I. It’s really weird not having you at the races and all the after parties” Luke had forgotten about the after parties and he groaned again. He really missed them too. Usually they would start at around 10pm and they would all party until the sun was rising. Cam and Luke had a lot of fun memories at after parties and it made him sad that he wasn’t there to make more memories with him._

_“But you’re winning…who cares if I’m not there” and Cam just rolled his eyes at Luke’s words._

_“It’s still something I’m having to get used to” Cam admitted as he glanced out the window “We’re doing something tonight, right?” Luke was glad that he changed the subject._

_“Like what?’_

_“It doesn’t matter” Cam shrugged “What do we usually do on the 4th of July?”_

_“_ _I don’t know…I’m always too drunk to remember" Luke chuckled a little bit and Cam laughed along with him as he agreed._

_“Last summer I think we rode down the beach and then just watched the fireworks”_

_“We really shouldn’t have gotten on our bikes while being that wasted”_

_“Yeah we got lucky that night…” Cam said in the same serious tone “I could barely even walk let alone ride my bike. I don’t know what we were thinking”_

_“Me either” Luke mumbled._

_“You know just cause you can’t walk doesn’t mean that we still can’t get drunk off our asses” Cam smirked and Luke nodded._

_“That’s very true…”_

_*_

_It was close to midnight and there were still fireworks going off all over the sky. Cam had picked Luke up, even though Luke kept telling him not to, and put him through the window in his room so they could both crawl onto the roof like they did when they were younger. They hadn’t done it in years and so much had changed since then. Back then they were just two kids who had big dreams of racing with the pros and now it had become a reality. When you have dreams that big you never imagine that they will actually happen and sometimes it still surprised both Cam and Luke that they had made it. They spent the last couple of hours drinking and watching movies until they could no longer focus on the TV and Luke started to get fidgety as Cam kept trying to bring up serious topics. Whenever Cam got drunk he had a habit of talking about things that he never would when he was sober. It was like he knew he had the courage to talk about it now so he always did. Usually Luke put up with it but tonight he just couldn’t deal with it. The past month had been stressful enough and he didn’t want to think about those things anymore._

_“Blue” Cam said louder than necessary as a firework shot into the sky._

_“Red” Luke said quickly and then the firework was going off and they both groaned when it turned out to be purple._

_“Purple…such bullshit” Cam tossed back yet another beer as they both laid on their backs looking up at the sky. In the distance they could see the ocean and hundreds of circles of lights from the boats still out in the water. Luke wished he could be out there too. He missed the beach like crazy._

_“Hey….” Luke snapped back into it and lightly hit Cam in the chest “Purple is a good color”_

_“No it’s not…it’s bullshit”_

_“Green” Luke shot out as he seen another firework being set off._

_“Uhhh…..what other colors are there?” Cam looked over to Luke and it had both of them cracking up laughing. They both looked back to the sky to see a green firework exploding across the black sky “Nice job” Cam patted Luke on the head._

_“I like those ones” Luke pointed up to the right side of the sky “I like the ones where it looks like it’s raining down”_

_“Hey you know what I was just thinking about….” Cam put his arms under his head and closed his eyes for a few seconds._

_“Hmm?” Luke really didn’t hear what he had said but he guessed it was a question. Cam asked a lot of questions when he was drunk._

_“What if…what if you entered like the wheelchair Olympics? Isn’t that a thing? Where people in chairs can do sports but like professionally”_

_“Cam” Luke laughed as he ran a hand over his face “I can barely even wheel myself into the kitchen without getting winded”_

_“Well it won’t be easy. You’ll have to work for it, Luke” Cam sounded dead serious about this idea and Luke was losing it a bit. He wiped at his eyes when he finally stopped laughing._

_“I’ll only be in the wheelchair for three months”_

_“Hey, what if when you finally get out of the chair-“_

_“Please, for the love of God, stop calling them ‘chairs’” Luke whined “All I’m thinking about are electric chairs…like the punishment”_

_“Is the electric chair...” Cam seemed like he was struggling for the right words. He was clearly more drunk than Luke was “Is that still a legal form of punishment here?”_

_“I don’t know” Luke said slowly “Just…just finish what you were going to say before; about me getting out of the wheelchair” Luke was just sick of having this conversation and he wanted it to end._

_“Oh! Yeah…what if when you got out of the wheelchair you like forgot how to walk for a few seconds”_

_“I probably will but the first thing I’ll be doing is going to the garage to get on my bike”_

_“No..no don’t” Cam said getting serious finally._

_“Why not?”_

_“Cause…you need to take it easy”_

_“I’ll be taking it easy for two more months. By then I’ll be sick of taking it easy”_

_“Hey look” Cam focused on the sky again and Luke was glad for it “There’s the rain ones you like”_

_“Yeah” Luke rubbed a hand through his own hair and let out a breath. It was obvious how much happier Cam was. Luke looked downright depressed and even the alcohol wasn’t really helping him. Cam was out there winning races and feeling on top of the world and Luke was basically bed ridden as he thought about the person he used to be. It was slowly killing him and he didn’t know how he was going to last another two months._

_“Hey” Cam slightly messed up Luke’s hair “Stop thinking so much” and Luke couldn’t help but smile. It was so like Cam to sense something like that; even when he was drunk._

_“What am I supposed to think about?” Cam studied his face for a few seconds then a fireworks grand finale on the left side of the sky was causing him to look up again._

_“Just…just think about right now. Sitting here with your best bud watching fireworks on our country’s birthday”_

_“Country’s birthday?” Luke giggled._

_“Yeah man…it’s a good time to be alive”_

_“You’re so fucking drunk” Luke laughed._

_“Drunk or not…you know I’m right”_

_“Fine” Luke rolled his eyes “When do you leave?”_

_“You trying to get rid of me?” Cam looked offended and Luke quickly shook his head. That wasn’t it at all._

_“No…Just wanna know how much longer we’ve got before you gotta get on the road again”_

_“Oh okay” Cam smiled “I leave Monday” that was only a few more days and Luke cringed. He didn’t want Cam to leave because Cam was the only thing that he had that felt normal. It reminded him of racing and he felt okay again._

_“Can we go to the beach tomorrow? I miss the beach”_

_“We can go to the beach” Cam mumbled and Luke could tell he was getting tired as he rubbed at his eyes._

_“Let’s go inside so we can sleep”_

_“Nope” Cam said popping the “p” “I want to sleep under the stars”_

_“Fine” Luke laughed “But I’m blaming you tomorrow when I have hundreds of mosquito bites”_

_“Fine by me”_

*

Luke was sitting on the ground resting his arms on his knees as he watched Michael with a big smile on his face. He could never get enough of watching Michael ride; even if he wasn’t doing tricks. None of the jumps in his backyard were safe enough for tricks like that anyways. His eyes followed Michael around the dark dirt track as he went over a table top and sped off towards the sharp turn towards the back of the track. Luke had been watching him for close to an hour but he wasn’t anywhere close to bored. Since it was well over 100 degrees that day Michael was riding around shirtless and Luke thought it was so sexy. Luke himself was shirtless too as he sat in a pair of orange KTM board shorts that he borrowed from Michael. There was something so domestic about sharing clothes with him and Luke had been feeling giddy all day after he woke up to the feeling of Michael putting soft kisses all down his back. Luke actually couldn’t remember the last time he had felt so happy; especially as soon as he woke up. Usually he was pretty grumpy, no matter what, when he woke up but when he was with Michael he felt so at peace. He remembers turning his head and seeing Michael lean down and lay down close to him as he ran his fingers up and down his spine. They stayed in bed like that exchanging lazy kisses for close to an hour before Michael dragged him out of bed so they could get something to eat. Michael was soon turning off the track and riding towards Luke and Luke felt himself getting excited. Michael rode to where he was only a few feet away from Luke then he put his kickstand down and started walking towards the boy as he took off his helmet.

“Hose me” Michael said out of breath, mainly from the heat, as he spread his arms out wide. Luke knew the drill and he stood up to grab the hose and quickly sprayed the cold water all over him. Michael let out a breath then walked closer to Luke and shook his hair, purposely getting Luke a bit wet but Luke thought it was more sexy than anything.

“You were doing really good out there” Luke said shyly. He just always felt the need to compliment Michael. Michael smiled back at him and ran a hand through his hair.

“Don’t I always do good?” Michael rested both of his hands on his head as he laced them together and it was showing off his biceps. Luke had to bite his lip and look away. He hated himself for still getting flustered around Michael.

“Can’t you just accept a compliment like a normal person?” Luke whined and Michael laughed as he stepped closer.

“I’m sorry” Michael ran a hand through Luke’s hair and moved it down to his neck before giving him a quick peck but Luke wanted more “Thank you, Luke” Michael said in some proper voice and Luke rolled his eyes. Luke rested both hands on Michael’s hips and brought the boy closer as he kissed him, opening his mouth a little but it was still a soft kiss. Michael let out a content sigh and melted into it as he rubbed his thumb against the skin right below Luke’s ear. When Michael backed up Luke smiled at him for a few seconds then he was looking past him and looking at his bike. Michael knew what he was looking at without looking back and he rubbed his arm in a soothing manner “Wanna take it for a spin?” Michael spoke softly and Luke felt himself nodding as if someone else was making him do it

“You sure? You don’t have to if you aren’t ready”

“Yeah” Luke looked back to the boy and nodded “I’m sure”

“Alright” Michael sounded so excited as he started to pull off his white boots and then his blue and white riding pants “I have another pair of riding pants in the house but you might as well just wear mine” Luke was smiling fondly at him again but his thoughts went to a darker place as he started down at the slight bulge in Michael’s shorts but he didn’t let his brain go there. He had more important things to worry about right now; like that fact that he was about to get on a bike again. It was just now hitting him how big this really was; especially since this wasn’t even his bike. Luke looked back to the bike and then Michael was handing him his pants. Luke slipped them on and they fit him perfectly and then he was slipping the boots on as well. He bit at his lip nervously as he watched Michael go and retrieve the chest gear and long sleeve white riding shirt off by the track. When they had first went outside Michael had done only one lap around the track before he was stopping and ripping his shirt and chest gear off claiming that he was too hot. Luke remembers him and Cam almost always racing without shirts when they were just getting some practice in. Luke forced himself to stop being nervous as Michael stood in front of him again with the gear.

“It’s too hot” Luke shook his head but Michael had the look of an overprotective parent.

“Put it on” Michael said sternly and Luke hated how the voice got him feeling even hotter than before. Soon Michael was putting the shirt over Luke’s head and Luke pouted as he slipped his arms through “I think you’ll survive” Michael laughed. The shirt smelled of sweat and Michael’s body wash. Luke loved the smell and it really calmed him. Luke slipped the chest gear on as well and he followed Michael towards the bike. It became more real as he was standing right next to it and Luke glared down at it like it was a person that physically hurt him. Michael was about to hand him the helmet then he put a hand under Luke’s chin and made the blond boy look up at him. Luke’s look immediately went soft as he met Michael’s eyes “You don’t have to do this, Luke. Not if you don’t want to”

“It’s a little late to back down now; I’ve got all the gear on” Luke said doing a slight laugh but Michael still looked dead serious.

“No it’s not…If you wanna back out, you can. This is big” Luke nodded at his words and bit at his lip as he glanced at the bike again. He ran his hands over the handle bars and felt Michael’s eyes on him the entire time as he moved his hand down to the seat and just rested it there. He then felt Michael’s comforting hand on the small of his back and he felt himself relaxing. Luke let out a breath and looked at Michael with determination.

“I’m gonna do it” Luke said sounding confident for once and Michael nodded but kept his hand on his back until Luke was putting the kickstand up and sitting on the bike. Michael was still looking at him with a worried face as Luke put the helmet and goggles on and it all felt so new but also so familiar to Luke. It was like visiting an old friend; even though it felt strange now Luke knew that he would come back into it and Michael was right. It would come back to him; he could feel it this time. The blond boy gave Michael a nod before starting the bike and he had looked away before he seen how Michael was really reacting to all of this. The bike vibrated beneath him and it was a feeling that he hadn’t felt in so long; it had felt like years.

“Just take it slow alright?” Michael yelled over the sound of the bike and Luke nodded quickly again. Luke wasn’t sure if he would really listen to Michael though because right now he felt like a caged in animal just waiting to be released. This time was different from when he hopped on the bike as soon as he got out of the wheelchair and Luke knew it was. He looked back to Michael once more and Michael patted his thigh before backing up a bit and Luke took that as his queue to go. Luke did a half spin and already he felt so alive feeling the bike move under him. He smiled wide and took off towards the track as he felt the adrenaline in his veins. When he got onto the track Luke took a quick scope around it even thought he had been watching Michael ride on it for the past hour. He just wanted to be safe and make sure he knew what most of it looked like. Luke felt like turning to look back at Michael but he just knew that would make him more nervous so he took off as dirt flew off his back tires and Luke was riding. He was actually riding and for a second it felt like it wasn’t even him doing it. Luke felt like someone else entirely was doing the riding for him and then he snapped into it after he hit the first table top. He knew he was going a bit fast and he remembered what Michael had said to him but he just couldn’t slow down; he didn’t want to. When he got to a patch of whoopdy do’s he sped up even more and he hit them with ease and quickly went around the first sharp turn. He couldn’t believe it but he was feeling like he did when he used to practice with Cam. It felt just like old times and as Luke was getting to the first jump he tried not to let his accident flash into his mind; that was what got him the last time he tried riding. He pushed the thought way out of his head as he approached it and instead thought of all the time he cleared jumps. That seemed to work because soon he was getting air and then landing on the other side of the jump. He smiled wide and got a warm feeling in his chest; it was only the type of feeling he got when he was on a bike and it had felt like centuries since he had felt it. Luke did another few laps around the track and it seemed to get easier and easier the more he was riding. He couldn’t believe it and he hadn’t really realized how much he missed it until now. He almost forgot that Michael was even watching him until he got off the track and looked up to see Michael with his hands on his head with a shocked look on his face. It instantly turned into a smile as Luke rode closer to him and then Michael was running towards him, taking Luke’s helmet and goggles off before wrapping his arms around his shoulders. Luke quickly shut the bike off and put the kickstand and wrapped his arms around the boys middle and pulled him closer “You did it” and Luke swore he heard Michael’s voice shake a bit. Luke just held him tighter and dug his face into Michael’s neck.

“Thank you” Luke knew he his voice was shaking because he could literally feel the tears swelling up in his eyes; he was just so happy.

“For what?” Michael backed up and gave him a confused look.

“For believing that I could do it…I never would have gotten on a bike if it wasn’t for you” Michael smiled but began shaking his head.

“No way. That was all you, Luke. Fuck” he said a bit louder as that shocked look came back to his face “You were incredible. It was crazy seeing you ride like that in person. Honestly…” Michael stopped himself and chuckled. Luke couldn’t believe that Michael was actually blushing.

“Honestly what?” Luke asked right away. Michael bit at his lip and looked back to Luke.

“I’m honestly a bit star struck right now” Michael laughed out and Luke couldn’t help but laugh too.

“Alright…I’ll sign anything but your ass” Luke said in a confident tone and it had Michael closing his eyes and looking up as he laughed again. Luke loved making him laugh.

“With what was happening last night I would think that my ass would be the only thing you’d wanna sign” Michael grinned and Luke’s confidence was completely gone now. He blushed just as hard as Michael was and looked down.

“I can’t help it that you’ve got a great ass” Luke mumbled but it had Michael bringing him into a tight hug again. Luke immediately melted into it like before.

“Alright, ass jokes aside” Michael laughed “You really were fucking amazing out there, Luke” he let go of Luke and faced him with a serious look “How did it feel?”

“Just like old times” Luke smiled wide as he looked past Michael “I couldn’t believe it…it felt like things hadn’t even changed”

“I’m so proud of you” Michael put a hand through Luke’s hair with a wide smile on his face and Luke practically purred at the touch and soft words. He didn’t know what good he did in his life to deserve someone as amazing as Michael. Luke got off the bike and clung to Michael like his life depended on it. He felt Michael putting soft kisses on his neck and shoulders.

“You hot?” Michael asked feeling the sweat on his back as he ran his hands up his shirt. Luke nodded and he actually felt like he was sweating to death; he just didn’t want to let Michael go though.

“Let’s go take a cold shower” Michael said quietly and his breath against Luke’s neck sent a chill down his spine. He was nodding so frantically that he felt his neck actually hurting.

*

When they got into the bathroom Michael was turning on the shower and then helping Luke out of his clothes as threw them to the floor. Luke loved having Michael undress him and he felt himself getting more eager than before with Michael’s hands roaming every inch of his torso and arms. Luke had to stop himself from letting out a moan when he felt Michael’s hard dick against his hand. Michael was already so hard and Luke felt himself getting there too just from knowing that he had that affect on Michael. Michael slipped out of his boxers too after he got Luke completely naked then they were stepping into the shower. The cold water felt amazing on Luke’s hot skin and he closed his eyes as he let the water roam down him. He let out a breathy moan when he felt Michael behind him putting kisses down the back of his neck and his shoulders as his hands rubbed at his ass. Luke realized that Michael was just as much as an ass man as he was and he felt himself smiling. He turned around and within a second Michael’s hand was on his dick as he dove forward and kissed Luke hard as he pressed him up against the cold shower wall. Even last night Michael wasn’t this eager and it was turning Luke on so much that he knew he wouldn’t last long at all. Michael’s hand sped up on his dick as the other dug into the skin on his ass as he would occasionally massage at it. Michael bit harshly at his lip and Luke let out a loud moan at the roughness. Luke let his head fall to Michael’s shoulder when he had to breathe but Michael just kept kissing at him as he moved down to suck bruises onto his shoulder and neck. Michael kept biting at the skin and then licking at it and Luke held on tight to him to make sure he didn’t fall over. Suddenly Michael’s hand on his dick slowed down a bit, although it still felt amazing, and then his hand that was on Luke’s ass slowly moved down until he was pressing a finger right to his hole. The action had Luke moaning loudly so Michael kept doing it as he still kept a steady pace on his dick.

“Turn around for me” Michael said in a low voice into Luke’s ear and Luke immediately did as he was told. He rested his head against the shower wall as Michael stood behind him and took his hand off Luke’s dick to put it on his hip as the other hand massaged at his ass. He then started to rub his pointer finger against Luke’s hole once again and Luke actually started to shake as he stuck it in and began rubbing at his walls “You okay with no lube?” Michael’s soft tone was back but Luke just nodded. Sure it hurt a bit but it also felt amazing and Luke knew he didn’t want to wait for Michael to go get lube. Michael went back to stretching him out for a minute more and then he pulled his finger out completely and Luke whined “I’ve got you baby” Michael rubbed at his hip and Luke relaxed but he also couldn’t wipe the smile off of his face at the nickname. Luke briefly looked behind him to see Michael getting down on his knees and Luke looked away knowing that he would come right away if he actually watched what Michael was about to do. Soon Luke felt Michael’s tongue circling around his hole and Luke moaned as he bit at the skin on his own fingers, he just had to bite onto something because the feeling was so good. When Michael’s tongue dipped into his hole he began to shake again.

“Fuck!” Luke cried out when Michael’s tongue starting moving faster against his walls “Fuck it feels so good, Michael” Luke practically whispered this time because he felt so weak already. Michael hummed against his skin and dug his nails into his hip bones and Luke swore he could feel him smiling. Michael slowed down his tongue down for only a few seconds before he was moving it more fiercely and causing Luke to rub back against him. When Michael got a hold of his dick Luke knew that he was done for and his thighs began to shake as he felt the familiar feeling in the bottom of his stomach. He felt Michael take his tongue out and just start pressing open mouth kisses on his hole.

“You gonna come, Luke?” Michael said in that deep tone as he kept his lips on the boys’ hole. All Luke could do was nod and then he was releasing himself on Michael’s hand. Michael stood up and pumped his dick through it until he was too sensitive then he was pecking kisses to Luke’s shoulder. Luke turned around with a slight smile on his face and Michael looked confused.

“Was that all because you saw me riding?”

“Fucking everything about you turns me on Luke” Michael said confidently but then he was looking away “But yeah…seeing you ride like that really got me going” Luke leaned forward and kissed him slow and hard.

“Fuck that’s hot” Luke said against his lips and Michael just smiled. Luke lowered his hand and then remembered that Michael was still painfully hard “Let me help you out with that” Luke said into his neck before getting on his knees like Michael had a few minutes ago.

“Shit…” Michael breathed out as Luke ran his tongue up the underside of his dick. He closed his eyes and let his head fall back on the shower door as he softly ran a hand through Luke’s hair. Luke took in much in his mouth as he could and made sure to slide his tongue around a lot because he could already tell that Michael loved it. Luke also couldn’t help but reach his other hand back to massage at Michael’s ass as he used it to bring Michael’s body closer to him every time he went down on his dick. Luke started moving his mouth in a faster motion and he loved the taste of Michael’s dick then he moved a finger between his cheeks and started rubbing his finger against Michael’s hole. That had Michael letting out a string of curse words and running a hand down Luke’s face “Almost there baby” and Michael’s breathy voice alone made Luke feel like he was getting hard again. Soon Michael was coming down Luke’s throat and Luke swallowed it all before coming off of his dick with a pop and licking any leftover come off of his lips. He looked up at Michael and seen that he was still breathing heavy with his eyes closed but then he was opening them and helping Luke stand up. Luke leaned his head on Michael’s shoulder as Michael ran his fingers up and down his spine. They both kept just running their hands up each other’s body under the cold water until they were both close to passing out and Michael was wrapping a towel around Luke after they got out then they were making their way back into Michael’s room. Michael let him borrow a pair of his boxers and again Luke felt so comfortable in his clothes. After they both laid down in the bed and got under the covers Michael turned on the TV just as some background noise then faced Luke on his side and gave him a kiss on his neck.

“I hate to say I told you so but…” Michael let out a laugh and Luke just cuddled into his chest “I knew you could do it though, Luke” Luke smiled into his skin and just held onto him tighter like he was scared Michael was going to try and get away.

“I think I only did good because you were there…” Luke spoke into him “Maybe you’re my good luck charm or something”

“That’s bullshit” Michael chuckled “You were just meant to ride. Felt good didn’t it?” another part of Luke started to think that that wasn’t the only thing that felt good but he kept his dirty thoughts to himself.

“Yeah…it felt amazing” Luke took his face out of Michael’s chest to face him and Michael wiped some hair off his forehead “Can we do something tomorrow?” Michael looked excited at his words at first but then he just looked downright sad and it worried Luke.

“Well my parents come home earlier in the day tomorrow so you’ll have to get your pretty little ass home but we can do something next weekend” Luke flicked his eyes down a little even though he was understanding of it “Hey…” Michael put a finger under his chin and kissed his lips softly “I promise”

“Where are we going to go riding?” Luke asked curiously and he was really getting excited about this.

“I’ve got somewhere in mind…it’s quite the drive though” and the thought of driving to faraway place with Michael gave Luke another excited feeling and he just started nodding quickly “Alright” Michael gave him another slow kiss for a few more seconds then kissed his cheek “Get some sleep superstar” Luke leaned forward and giggled into his chest. He felt so safe and at peace and if it was up to him he wouldn’t ever go back to his own home. This felt like home to him now and he realized that maybe anywhere that Michael was felt like home.

*

Luke did have to end up going home the next morning like Michael had said but he knew he would see the boy at school the next day. He still missed him already though as he was walking into his own house. Before Luke had left they had just laid in bed for an hour or so like they had the morning before and Luke decided that it was one of his favorite things to do with Michael. Feeling Michael’s soft hands roaming all over him and feeling his kisses all over his skin; it was a thing he knew he’d always love. The house was empty as he made his way into the kitchen and he just poured himself a glass of water before taking out his phone. He looked at the few messages from Calum the day before and started to feel a bit bad for just ignoring him.

(From: Luke)

_Wanna stop by?_

Luke sent out the text and hoped that would be enough to get Calum’s attention. He knows that he would like to hear that he had started riding again. If Calum was mad at him he would probably just be mad about the fact that Luke got on a bike without him being there. Sure enough a few minutes later when Luke was lounging on the couch Calum texted him back.

(From: Calum)

_What for?_

Luke realized that Calum was going to make this more difficult that he thought he would but Luke knew he deserved it for brushing him off for the past few days.

(From: Luke)

_Got something to tell you…I think you’ll be pretty thrilled_

This time Calum texted back faster than before and Luke was sure that he had convinced him.

(From: Calum)

_Fine. I’ll be over in a few_

Luke smiled down at his phone and fell back in the couch again as he threw his phone to the side. He focused on the Family Guy episode on the TV and waited impatiently for Calum to come to his door. He just couldn’t wait to tell him the good news and hopefully Calum wasn’t too mad at him. Luke remembers how pissed he got at Cam that time he ignored his texts for a week after they got into a brief verbal fight after a race. It wasn’t anything major but it was just Cam trying to give him pointers and then Luke told him to fuck off, being stubborn and not listening to anything that anyone said, and drove home. Luke just always felt a bit on edge after a race and that current day he didn’t do as well as he usually did so he was pretty discouraged. Cam had just caught him at a bad time and Luke felt bad for it. That was the only fight they had ever had. Soon Calum was knocking a few times and then just walking in and Luke waved in a dorky way as Calum came around the corner. Calum didn’t look as happy but Luke didn’t blame him.

“What’s up?” Calum put his hands in his jean pockets as he swayed a bit in place.

“Listen I’m sorry for ignoring you these past couple days…” Luke started off and he seen Calum let out a breath “I’ve just been hanging out with Michael a lot and-“ Luke stopped talking when Calum suddenly started squinting his eyes as he looked at him and then started walking towards him.

“What the hell is on your neck?” Calum asked curiously and Luke just rubbed at his neck, not knowing what he was referring to.

“What are you talking about?” and then Calum was getting a huge smile on his face as he sat next to Luke and could get a closer look.

“Who are the hickey’s from Luke?” Calum used that smartass tone and Luke blushed a little. He should have known that he would have some from how much Michael loved kissing his neck, Luke loved it just as much, but he just hadn’t noticed the marks. He took out his phone and turned on the front camera, wanting to see them and sure enough there was a three bruise’s down the left side of his neck and then another two on the right side “Whoever it was…god damn. You better keep them around”

“I was planning on it” Luke smiled shyly as he set his phone down.

“So who was it?” Calum pressed on.

“Who did I just tell you that I’ve been hanging out with these past couple days?” Luke decided to make him figure it out instead of just coming out and saying it. Calum looked confused for a few seconds then his mouth was going wide and he started laughing into his hand.

“Oh my god” Calum just shook his head in shock “Michael?” he whispered and Luke just nodded “You and Michael?”

“Yeah…me and Michael” it made Luke feel good to say it out loud “But just don’t tell anyone…I mean I don’t care who knows but I don’t know if Michael feels the same. We haven’t exactly talked about it or anything”

“Michael doesn’t give a shit what people think of him” Calum said “He won’t care, Luke; trust me”

“I’ve dealt with that shit in the past though…you know, people wanting to keep their relationship with me a secret. So I just wanna play it safe; I don’t wanna lose him” the real wording that Luke was thinking of was: I can’t lose him; but he didn’t want to sound too crazy. Luke had only met him a few days ago but in those days he’d had completely fallen for Michael. He wasn’t sure if that was normal though.

“So is that what you wanted to tell me? About this thing you and Michael have? Cause I gotta say it was totally worth it coming over here to hear that. I’ve never known Michael for getting involved with anyone so you must be pretty special to him” that had Luke smiling like a mad man and he really did hope Michael cared about him as much as he cared about Michael.

“He’s fucking amazing” Luke said quietly and he was mostly just saying it to himself “But that wasn’t the main thing that I wanted to tell you”

“Alright” Calum chuckled and Luke knew he was getting impatient.

“I got on a bike yesterday” Luke smiled and let out a breath.

“Are you shitting me?” Calum whispered “Don’t mess with me like that. You really did?”

“Yeah” Luke nodded “I was riding around Michael’s track. It felt so natural too…it was fucking insane”

“Oh my god” Calum put his face in his hands.

“You gonna cry?” Luke laughed out.

“I think so” Calum said behind his hands “Jesus, I can’t you believe you did it” he took his face out of his hands and smiled wide at Luke “What made you do it?”

“I don’t know…I was watching Michael ride around and I just felt like I could do it again. It wasn’t even my bike and I still felt like I was riding pretty well. I know I’ll get around even better with my own bike since I’m more used to it”

“Holy shit. So will this be like a regular thing now? You riding again?”

“Yeah…” Luke nodded and grinned “I think it will be. Me and Michael are going to go riding somewhere next weekend”

“Fuck, that’s awesome. He’ll take you somewhere super fucking cool”

“I know he will” Luke smiled but he knew it didn’t matter where they went; he just loved spending time with the blue haired boy. It was something he just couldn’t get enough of.

*

When Luke had fallen asleep that night Calum had been already sleeping soundly next to him but now that he was waking up the boy was no longer there. It was still very dark out so Luke knew it wasn’t morning yet and he glanced at his phone to see that it was 2am. He had no idea what the boy could be doing at 2am, especially since they had school the next day. It wasn’t like he had to find Calum but he was just feeling a little curious so he got out of bed and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes before going down the hallway. From the living room he could see flashes of lights in the otherwise dark living room and when he got to the top of the stairs he seen Calum sitting on the far couch wrapped in a blanket.

“What’re you doing?” Luke mumbled once he got to the bottom of the stairs but it still gave Calum a little jump. Luke turned to look at the TV but he really wish he hadn’t. When he seen that it was a video of his race the day he crashed and he cringed. His dad recorded all the races and for some reason kept that one even though he knew Luke hated watching it. He actually hadn’t watched it since the day in the hospital when he was with Cam.

“Sorry…I couldn’t sleep and I just seen the disc for it under the TV” Calum sounded like he felt bad but Luke just shook his head and glanced at the TV again. He watched himself go over the hill right before his accident but quickly looked away before the crash actually happened. Calum clearly hadn’t looked away though because he gasped a bit and Luke looked up to see him hiding behind his blanket. For some reason Luke looked back to the TV and his jaw dropped at what he seen. It was only for a few seconds that he could see the figure off on the sidelines against the fence but Luke was sure that he had really seen it. There was no way his mind was playing tricks on him.

“Holy shit” Luke breathed out and then he was sitting on the couch “Rewind it”

“What? Why?” Calum sounded more worried than anything.

“Just rewind it to just before the crash” Calum looked at him for a few more seconds but then he was doing as Luke told him. When the crash happened, Luke didn’t watch himself and instead looked to the left of the screen where there was a line of people standing against the fence. Luke moved his eyes frantically around at the shocked and scared faces as they all focused on Luke laying on the ground and then Luke spotted him. Luke just stared at the boy dressed in a black shirt and black jeans as he put a hand over his face and then put it into his hair in a nervous manner. He seen him mouth something that looked like “Oh fuck” as he looked down at the blond boy, still not moving on the dirt. The boy then started shaking his head and rested his arms on the fence as he didn’t tear his eyes away. Luke could see the fear all over his face and it gave him chills. Suddenly the camera moved so that it was just above Luke and the boy couldn’t be seen anymore.

“Luke, what did you see?” Luke knew Calum had been staring at him the whole time and he had probably tried to get his attention a few times before.

“Just rewind it again” Luke said without any explanation and Calum did. Luke again looked away as the crash happened and focused on the boy on at the fence

“Pause it” Luke shot out quickly and luckily Calum did it right away. Luke just stared in shock for a few more seconds before he got off the couch and stood right beside the TV. He pointed at the boy in all black then looked back to Calum “Who does that look like to you?” he watched as Calum sat on the edge of the couch and squinted his eyes.

“I can’t really tell. Who is it?”

“Come closer” and Calum stood up to walk straight up to the TV.

“Oh my god” Calum whispered and Luke knew he had figured it out “Is that…is that Michael?” and Luke just nodded quickly “Did you know he was there that day?”

“No” Luke shook his head right away “I mean I figured he had seen the crash but I didn’t know that he was physically there at the race”

“He looks terrified” Calum spoke quietly and just kept staring at the TV “When’s the last time you seen this footage?”

“When I was in the hospital but I obviously didn’t even know who Michael was back then”

“This is insane” Calum put a hand through his hair “And he was so close to you when it happened. That would really fuck with a person seeing that so up close”

“Maybe that’s why he didn’t tell me” Luke thought out loud “It was just too hard for him to talk about” and then Luke remembered what Michael had told him back at his house “And do you know what he told me the first night I stayed at his house?” Calum shook his head of course “He told me that he’s liked me ever since I won my first championship, which was back in fucking 2013”

“That means he liked you when he seen this happen” Calum said piecing it all together “Fuck, that must have killed him. I honestly don’t even think you should bring it up to him, Luke. There’s a reason he hasn’t talked about it”

“I know” Luke whispered as he looked down at the carpet “It’s going to bug the shit out of me if I don’t though. I wanna know what he was thinking”

“I think it’s pretty clear what he was thinking” Calum chuckled but not in a way that he thought it was funny “He probably thought you were fucking dead; that’s what everyone thought” Luke looked back to the screen and took the remote out of Calum’s hand to press play again. It was at the part where Michael started shaking his head and since Luke was closer to the TV this time he could see him saying “no” over and over and Luke actually began to feel the tears in his eyes.

“Look at him” Calum said breathlessly “Look how badly he’s freaking out. I can’t even watch him anymore” Calum turned around to go sit on the couch but Luke kept standing by the TV. He wiped at his eyes when he felt the tears touching his skin then he snuffled. It was just so hard seeing Michael like that; so scared and helpless and Luke could tell that all he wanted to do was jump over the fence and go see him. The camera moved away from him again and Luke quickly shut off the TV “I’m sorry, Luke. I shouldn’t have been watching this”

“It’s fine” Luke mumbled as he made his way towards the stairs but he wasn’t fine at all. This time it wasn’t seeing his own accident that had him feeling shitty; it was seeing how badly it affected Michael that screwed him up the most.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whenever I get over halfway through a long fic like this I always seem to hit a brick wall so that's why I haven't been updating very well. This chapter is very short and I'm sorry but the next chapter will be longer (I'm about halfway done with it) Oh and I found some old photos (really old like my brother is now almost 19 and in one of these photos he was only 2 years old) of my brother and dad riding dirt bikes if anyone cares to see [them](http://clifford-affliction.tumblr.com/post/139569810579/old-photos-of-my-dad-and-brother-jake-at-motocross) . Let me know what you think of this! <3

_Luke and Cam were both sitting on the edge of the beach where the sand met the sidewalk and Cam was sitting on the cement bench that stretched all along the beach. The sun was just starting to go down and it had always been Luke’s favorite time of the day to be at the beach. It was right when the heat was starting to die down but it still felt warm enough to be comfortable. Luke also loved how different the sky looked every day at this time and he bent his head to look upwards. There was a mixture of orange and pink that stretched across the sky and Luke tried to forget that he was in a wheelchair so that it felt like old times. Old times when him and Cam would be swimming all day and then laying in the sand by the time the sun started to go down. Luke looked at the sand and wished he could feel it between his toes; wished he could feel the warm ocean water on his skin and he hated that he couldn’t do either of those things._

_“I wish I could swim” Luke mumbled out loud and Cam just nodded while watching the waves._

_“I know bud” he simply said then he got a slight smile on his face “I could go get you that big raft from my house”_

_“Thanks but…” Luke shook his head “It wouldn’t be the same” Luke actually wanted to feel the water underneath him and be able to swim under water. Luke remembers being younger and having hand stand competitions with Cam all the time. They could both hold their breath for over two minutes because of that._

_“Let’s go get ice cream” Cam stood up and already seemed set on it._

_“I wanna stay here” Luke suddenly said but Cam was already wheeling him away._

_“We’ll get it then come straight back here”_

_“What if I say no?”_

_“You don’t have a choice, Lukey boy” Luke let out a huff and just let Cam push him down the sidewalk towards the ice cream stand. He couldn’t help but see a few kids walking by him and staring at him. Most people probably just assumed that he was paralyzed and that his legs would never work again. He hated that they thought that though because his legs weren’t the problem and he would be walking in no time at all. He just let them assume all they wanted because there wasn’t much he could do about it. They got up to the ice cream stand and Luke got a turtle sundae like he always did then Cam got some triple chocolate sundae that had Luke get a tooth ache just looking at it. Just as Cam promised they went back to the exact same spot that they were and ate their ice cream in silence. Now the sun was all the way down and it was beginning to get darker._

_“What’s the first thing you’re gonna do when you get out of the chair?” Cam said casually and Luke glared at him. Cam had clearly forgotten, or just didn’t remember in his drunken state, that Luke had told him to stop calling it a “chair” Luke had also already told Cam what he was going to do when he got to talk walk again but Luke knew he had to tell him again._

_“Get on my bike” Luke said like it was obvious._

_“I think you should chill out on it for a little while” Luke should have known that drunk Cam and sober Cam would both be like a worried parent when it came to that._

_“Fine” Luke knew he wasn’t going to listen but he didn’t feel like arguing with him about it “I’ll probably come here and go swimming”_

_“What if…” suddenly Cam started dying laughing “What if as soon as you got in the water a shark bit both of your legs off” and Cam was still dying laughing but Luke was just glaring at him “Oh come on. I think you’d have like the worst luck in the world if that happened”_

_“Are you trying to curse me?” Luke said in a dull tone._

_“I’m just fucking around” Cam messed his hair up and Luke couldn’t help but smile a little. He didn’t mean to take everything so seriously._

_“I got so lucky though. Things could have been so much worse” Luke shifted in his chair a little bit._

_“You’re the luckiest guy I know, Luke. As soon as you start walking again things will go back to the way they were before”_

_“I hope so” Luke mumbled. He wanted that so bad._

_“_ _Do you wanna head back?”_

_“Not yet” Luke said looking up at the darkening sky._

_“I’m really nervous about the race next weekend” Cam said out of the blue and Luke took a double look at him. Cam was never nervous about races; or at least he never admitted it out loud._

_“What for?”_

_“It’s the Massachusetts track. That was where I tore my ACL. It wasn’t that big of a crash but it’s still going to be in the back of my mind the whole time”_

_“You can’t think about it, Cameron. You just gotta push it out of your thoughts or it will drive you nuts”_

_“I’ll try to”_

_“You’ve been doing so well. You can’t let it get to you”_

_“I know” Cam said quietly “Wish you could be there with me” Luke looked at the side of Cam’s face and had to look away at how miserable he looked._

_“Nothing will happen to you. You’ll do great” Luke shot out and Cam just forced a smile and nodded. Assuring him that he would do fine was the only thing Luke could do for him._

*

“How is it to be back?” Michael smirked as he leaned against the locker next to Luke’s.

“Well I didn’t miss it” Luke chuckled “I can tell you that right now”

“You missed me though right?” Michael said leaning forward and giving him a soft kiss on the lips. Luke felt himself blushing and nodded.

“Of course” since Calum was right and it was obvious that Michael had no fear of showing public displays of affection Luke kissed him a bit harder and wrapped his arms around his waist.

“You tired?” Michael asked messing up Luke’s hair a little and Luke nodded as he leaned against Michael. He then started to think about the video and how he seen Michael in it. He really hadn’t stopped thinking about it and it was still killing him. Luke kissed his neck, wishing that there had been someone to comfort Michael when he seen that happen to Luke.

“Calum woke up at like 2am and I couldn’t fall asleep after that” Luke couldn’t fall asleep after that because he couldn’t stop thinking about Michael and couldn’t stop worrying about past Michael who looked so helpless standing against the fence. Michael just hummed and started petting the back of Luke’s head that was still resting against his shoulder. The first warning bell was going off, ruining their moment together, and Luke had to force himself to back away from the boy. He hated that he didn’t have a single class with Michael.

“I’ll see you at lunch alright?” Michael said softly before kissing Luke once more.

“I’ll see ya” Luke mustered up his best smile and still stood at his locker as Michael was walking down the hallway away from him.

*

Luke loved having Michael next to him during lunch instead of having to admire him from afar and he also couldn’t help but get an evil smile on his face as he looked over to see Brandon sitting at a table all by himself. Soon enough though Luke’s thoughts were going back to the video and he looked over to see Michael still talking to Calum about some video game. His hair was blue now but back in the video it was a lilac color and Luke wished he could have known Michael back then. He never minded staying single, for the most part, back when he was in Florida but he did get lonely quite a bit. Whenever he got home from long days at the races he wished he had someone to snuggle up with and just lounge around with. He had that now though so he really had to stop being so depressed about it. He looked down at his own hand then looked at Michael’s and he slowly laced them together, making Michael temporarily look away from Calum to smile at Luke and then he gave Luke’s hand a squeeze before focusing on Calum again. Luke also loved how good Calum and Michael were getting along, sure they had known of each other but Calum made it pretty obvious before that he hadn’t ever talked to Michael.

“Michael did I tell you about the time that Me and Calum first met?” Luke said smirking at Calum and Calum glared at him.

“No” Michael chuckled turning to Luke and he was so close to him that Luke had to force himself not to lean forward and kiss him “What happened?”

“Calum shows up on my doorstep unannounced and starts acting like some crazed fan” Luke knew he was exaggerating it and Michael knew it too by his grin.

“Crazed fan” Calum mumbled as he rolled his eyes “I was not acting like that”

“You were to” Luke said back “I acted like it was annoying me but I was blushing a bit”

“You were not…you were being an asshole” Calum pouted and it had Michael and Luke both laughing.

“I know I was. I’m sorry” Luke said honestly and Calum just nodded at him, letting him know that it wasn’t a big deal. Just then Luke glanced up to see Ashton walking past a few tables in the distance. He was making his way towards Brandon’s table and just as he sat across from him he made eye contact with Luke. Luke wanted to look away but now he felt frozen as Ashton glared back at him. Luke felt himself leaning closer to Michael and then Ashton was looking away. Michael looked at Luke and automatically looked concerned.

“You okay?” Michael said only loud enough for Luke to hear.

“Yeah” and Luke actually did feel better when Michael leaned into him and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. Luke did a real smile as Michael unlaced their fingers and brought up a hand to rub up and down his back a few times. No matter what Luke always knew that Michael would make him feel better and he leaned into Michael once again as he seen Calum giving them both a fond smile. Luke just had to forget about pointless people like Ashton and Brandon and just focus on the good people he had in his life like Michael and Calum. He of course had Cam too but Cam was so far away but Luke missed him a little less whenever he was with Michael.

*

Luke walked back into his room after going to the bathroom to see Michael laying on his back on top of Luke’s bed with his arms resting behind his head. South Park was playing in the background but Michael turned it down once Luke came in the room. Luke just smiled fondly at him as he leaned against the doorway.

“Come here” Michael practically begged and Luke didn’t have to be told twice. He fell on top of Michael earning a slight huff and a laugh from the boy then Luke scooted up so he could bury his face in LMichael’s neck. He started to relax when he felt Michael’s hands on his back but he knew Michael was getting ready to say something to him “Luke are you okay? You’ve seemed off all day” and Luke knew he wasn’t okay. He just couldn’t get Michael’s scared look out of his mind when he was at the race. He just didn’t know how to go about talking to Michael about it. Like Calum had said, it was obviously something that Michael didn’t feel like discussing if he hadn’t brought it up yet. Another thought came into Luke’s mind right then though; maybe Michael hadn’t mentioned it yet because he thought that Luke didn’t want to talk about it. Sure Luke would still become a little uncomfortable when the accident was mentioned but he handled it a lot better than he did before.

“Michael” was all that Luke managed to get out once he sat up on his elbows to look at the boy. Michael rubbed the back of his hand across Luke’s cheek but it only made Luke feel weaker than before “I didn’t know that you were there that day” Michael of course seemed confused at his words and Luke knew he would have to elaborate more.

“What’re you talking about?” Michael still spoke softly.

“The day of my accident….” Luke began and he could already see the look on Michael’s face begin to change into a more scared one “You were there” Michael looked away from Luke and focused on something outside the window. Luke just watched him blinking slowly like he was trying to take it all in.

“Yeah…” Michael said quietly and Luke was worried with how small he looked in this moment “I was there”

“You looked so scared” Luke spoke and he seen Michael physically flinch so he cupped Michael’s cheek and rubbed a thumb across the skin there to soothe him “It had me fucking crying at how scared you looked” that had Michael looking back at him and taking a deep breath.

“I was scared you were gone” Michael’s voice cracked a little then he swallowed hard and shook his head “I know I didn’t even know you back then I just felt something for you and I didn’t want to lose it”

“I’m really sorry you had to see that, Michael” and Luke’s words instantly had Michael closing his eyes and shaking his head.

“I’m sorry it had to happen to you. I didn’t tell you that I was there just because I figured you didn’t like remembering that day”

“Yeah…that’s what I thought” Luke nodded.

“Plus I don’t like remembering it either” Michael said honestly and Luke leaned in to give him a kiss on the cheek then the lips. Michael cupped both of Luke’s cheeks in his hands “Is that what was bothering you all day?”

“Yeah…I just couldn’t get it out of my head. That’s why I couldn’t sleep last night”

“It was really tough for me to see but…” Michael kissed him “You’re okay now and that’s all I care about”

“I wish I would have known you back then” Luke voiced what he had been thinking about earlier and Michael just smiled “You should have came and talked to me or something”

“Right” Michael laughed and Luke scrunched his eyebrows up in confusion “Me? Just some random kid coming up to talk to a pro motocross racer; you wouldn’t have thought much of it, Luke. I’m sure that happened to you all the time”

“That’s not true” Luke said defensively “As soon as I seen you I knew that I liked you. It wouldn’t have been any different back when I was racing” Michael’s face changed and looked less like he was laughing at Luke.

“You did?” and Luke loved how cute and small he looked.

“Yeah” Luke smiled wide “I really did” he laid his head down on Michael’s chest and felt his eyes closing as Michael rubbed fingers through his hair.

“Maybe I should have come to talk to then” Michael chuckled and pressed a kiss to the side of his head.

“We should go riding” Luke yawned and he just felt Michael holding him tighter.

“We will this weekend. You need to get some sleep, bud” Luke loved the little nicknames that Michael called him and he snuggled into him more.

“Okay” Luke yawned again and Michael chuckled at how cute he sounded when he was sleepy “But don’t let me nap too long cause I’ll wake up feeling all weird” Michael just nodded, knowing the feeling and continued to rub his fingers in Luke’s hair in a soothing way as he kept his other hand on Luke’s lower back. He wasn’t even tired himself but he just loved having Luke in his arms like this. When Luke’s breathing started to get a little bit heavier, about fifteen minutes later, Michael kissed his head and carefully put a blanket over them both. Sometimes he still couldn’t believe that Luke was his and he held him tight wishing that they could just stay like this forever. It was too perfect.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow it's a miracle..I'm actually updating this. I know it's taken me forever but I've been stuck on this since it's coming to an end and I'm still stuck on it but hopefully this hold you guys over for a little while longer. Plus I've started an OT4 fic that I've been really busy with...it's called Lost Hearts and I'm actually really proud of it if you guys wanna check it out. I somehow already have 100k written on Lost Hearts wtf...anyways let me know what you think of this chapter!

_The days just dragged on without Cam there with him and Luke hated how he did the same thing every single day. Every day just consisted of him eating and watching TV and it was driving him crazy. Luke was so happy that he didn’t have to be in the wheelchair for very much longer but he just hoped he would survive it without having some sort of mental breakdown. He watched Cam’s race in Massachusetts of course and Cam did fine just like he knew he would. He did seem to be nervous at first but he jumped right back into it and came in 2nd place. He also hoped that Cam would come visit him again soon._

_He had a few of his other friend’s visit him but it just wasn’t the same; he needed his best friend. He still watched Cam’s races every weekend after that too and it was starting to cause him less and less pain but he still felt the sting of jealously when he seen Cam racing. Luke hated how it was bothering him so bad that he wasn’t there but he just couldn’t stop it. He kept blaming all of these new feelings on the pain medication he was on but at the end of the day he knew that the only thing to blame was himself._

*

“Wake up you lazy bum” Luke could barely hear him with his head under his pillow but he stirred a bit and let out a small whimper. He then felt the bed dipping by his hip and then there was a hand softly rubbing up his back. Luke knew it was Michael touching him without even opening his eyes “You gonna wake up bud” his voice was softer this time and Luke opened his eyes to see Michael sitting on the edge of the bed wearing a grey hoodie and Luke thought he looked so cuddly. He was also a bit confused as to why Michael was wearing a hoodie since it was always so hot out. Luke smiled at him and Michael returned it then Luke realized that the sky didn’t look as bright as it usually did.

“What time is it?” Luke managed to get out but his sleepy voice was strong.

“A little past 9” Michael reached up and wiped some hair off of Luke’s forehead and Luke leaned into the touch and closed his eyes, earning a chuckle from Michael.

“9 at night?” Luke knew that didn’t make any sense after he said it because for one it was light out and two he had gone to bed at 11 last night.

“No” Michael chuckled “In the morning. Remember, I promised we’d go riding on Saturday?”

“Course I remember” Luke smiled and then he yawned “Just tired” he sat up and ran a hand through his hair before standing up and going over to his dresser. He grabbed a pair of basketball shorts and a white short sleeve shirt.

“You might wanna grab a hoodie. It’s a bit chilly” Luke turned his head to look at Michael and raised his eyebrows like he couldn’t believe it was anything other than roasting hot. He decided to just take Michael’s word on it and grabbed the black hoodie on top of his dresser and through all his clothes on his bed for when he got out of the shower. Since he knew he’d get all muddy and sweaty there wasn’t much point in showering but he mainly needed it to wake him up more.

“I’m gonna jump in the shower” Luke mumbled as he walked out the door.

“Where’s all your gear and shit?” Michael asked lounging back on his bed now.

“My closet” Luke nodded towards it then he was walking down the hallway. Michael kept his eyes on Luke until he was out of sight then he looked to the closet not really feeling like getting up but knew they would be able to leave sooner if he helped Luke get his stuff around. Michael cautiously opened the closet door knowing that his own closet was stuffed with a bunch of worthless things that came flying out if he opened the door too fast. Surprisingly it was pretty empty except a few dress shirts hanging up and a few boxes on the floor of it. Michael spotted a large box on the right side and bent over to grab it before taking Luke’s gear out and putting it on the bed with the rest of his clothes.

He was about to just shut the closet but caught the sight of something shiny and he bent down to lean against the door as he dug through another box. He picked out a bubble wrapped object and smiled to himself when he seen what it was. He ran his fingers over the top of the trophy and wrapped it back up before grabbing another one out of the box. He only got to look at a few of them before Luke was coming back through the door with a towel around his waist and Michael ran his eyes over Luke’s still wet torso.

“What’re you doing on the floor?” Luke chuckled when he seen Michael but his smile faded a bit when he seen what Michael was looking at.

“Why are these in your closet just picking up dust?” Michael held one trophy up that was from a track in Washington state. Luke just shrugged. He could still feel Michael’s eyes burning into him so Luke decided to tell him why they were in his closet.

“I just couldn’t look at them when we first moved in” Luke said quietly and he slipped on his boxers and shorts before Michael was coming up behind him and kissing his bare shoulder. Luke leaned into the kiss and turned his head to rub his face into Michael’s neck.

“M’ sorry” Michael’s warm breath sent a chill down Luke’s spine and Luke kind of just wanted to curl up with him all day “I won’t bring it up again”

“Thanks” Luke smiled and leaned back to give Michael a kiss.

“Let’s go load your bike up in the truck” Michael smacked his ass and then grabbed Luke’s gear off his bed. Luke smiled fondly at him before grabbing his t-shirt and hoodie then slipping them on as well.

*

Once they went out in the garage Luke loaded his bike into the back of Michael’s truck and then he was throwing his gear in the backseat before sitting in the passenger seat. While Luke was looking over at Michael as he was driving he was reminded of the very first time he was in Michael’s truck. So much had changed in just a small amount of time and here Luke was; going riding when he thought he’d never get on a bike again. Here he was with Michael, a person he thought he would never have a chance with, and Luke just couldn’t believe any of this was really happening. He had gone so far since he came to California.

He watched as Michael reached down to turn the radio on so that it was just barely at a hearable volume with the air coming in through the window blowing his hair, it was so comfortable as he stared out at the trees passing by. They were just starting to leave the city limits and Luke really hadn’t left the city since he’d been here, except for that terrible trip to the desert.

Suddenly he felt his phone vibrating and he was a bit annoyed at someone bothering him at such a calm moment, he always hated being interrupted when he was with Michael. He figured it was his mom wondering where the hell he was since he hadn’t exactly told her he was going somewhere but he glanced down at his phone to see Cam’s name and smiled. He felt Michael eyes looking in his direction. Luke just then realized that he hadn’t told Cam about him getting on a bike again so he decided to have a bit of fun with it.

“It’s Cam” Luke smiled still looking down at his phone “This should be interesting” he answered it but immediately turned it on speaker phone so Michael could hear.

“Hey bud” Luke smiled at the sound of Cam’s voice and looked over to see Michael smiling too.

“Hey” Luke said casually.

“I was about to go riding so I figured I’d give you a quick call…nice to hear that you’re still alive” Cam said with a chuckle and Luke remembered that the last time he talked to him was before his mother came home to find out he was suspended.

“Yeah” Luke laughed “She took the suspension pretty lightly actually”

“And your dad?”

“Doesn’t know” Luke said simply as he started out the window.

“Guess you wouldn’t be alive right now if he did” Cam said in a serious voice and it had Luke laughing again.

“Where you going riding?” Luke had the sudden urge to know and kind of wished that Cam was riding with him and Michael.

“Big Air…you know it’s not my favorite but Riley talked me into it” Luke stopped looking out the window and looked back to the phone like he could actually see Cam; he wished he could.

“Riley?” Luke said nervously and it instantly had Michael looking over at him.

“He’s not that awful, Luke”

“Yeah…sure” Luke said sarcastically.

“Where are you anyways? I hear some background noise” Cam decided to change the subject and Luke could hear him messing around with something so he knew he wasn’t fully paying attention. He knew this would be the perfect time to drop the bomb on him.

“Oh just…going riding upstate” Luke ended it with a yawn to make it sound casual and it had Michael smirking over at him.

“That’ll be fun” Cam was still messing with something on the other line “Wait…what?!” it had Luke and Michael both cracking up in laughter “Wait so you’re seriously riding again? Since when?” now Cam sounded more excited than shocked.

“About a week ago I think” Luke looked to Michael and he just nodded. It was easy to lose track of time when so much has happened.

“And you’re just telling me now? What the fuck, Luke” Luke could tell that Cam was actually upset.

“Sorry…been busy”

“That’s bullshit” Cam laughed “Well we’re almost to the track. I’ll call you back later and you’ll be telling me every detail about how it happened, got it?” Luke laughed and nodded.

“Got it. See ya, Cam” all of a sudden Cam was doing a high pitched scream and Luke and Michael both jumped.

“Sorry we almost just got hit” Cam was laughing so Luke knew he was okay “Riley you bastard” Luke felt a bit uneasy knowing that Cam was hanging out with other people. Back when he lived in Florida it was always just him and Cam “See ya, Lukey!” the line went dead and Luke stared at the phone for a few more seconds before putting it back in his pocket.

“So that was, Cam” Michael chuckled.

“Yeah…you’d like him” Luke smiled. Michael just smiled back at him and put a hand through Luke’s hair.

“You tired?” Luke nodded lazily as he still closed his eyes at Michael’s gentle touch “You can sleep. We won’t be there for a couple of hours” Luke nodded again and leaned over in his seat to give Michael a soft kiss on the cheek and then on the neck. He felt Michael shiver and Luke smiled before giving him one more kiss. Luke fell back in his seat and leaned his head against the window as he could feel the slight rumble of the tires beneath them. It was soothing and Luke didn’t realize how tired he really was.

*

When Luke woke up the sun was higher in the sky and his body was a lot hotter than it was before. He groaned a bit, which earned a look from Michael, and then he wiggled out of his sweatshirt. He threw it in the back before rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and seen Michael turning one of the AC vents at him. Luke started to look around and seen that he was in an entirely different setting than before. There were pine trees lining both sides of the road and somehow the sky even looked different than it did during the day back at home. Luke rolled down his window more and he could smell the fresh air, it wasn’t stuffy feeling and he felt so at peace.

“You ever been upstate in California?” Michael smiled at him.

“No…it’s amazing” Luke spoke quietly as he still looked all around and he could feel Michael fondly smiling at him before they were pulling to the side where there was a little opening next to the woods.

“Looks like you woke up just in time” Michael was then reaching back and tossing Luke’s gear on his lap and then grabbing his own. Luke put his hand on the door but then he felt Michael’s hand on his shoulder and looked back at him “Listen…just take it easy out there. It’s kind of rough out there even if you’re used to riding”

“I’ll be careful” Luke nodded but Michael caught the little smirk on his face before he opened the door. Michael smiled as he shook his head a bit and then grabbed their boots before joining Luke outside. He was putting the tailgate down and Luke was still looking around at all the scenery. Michael started to strip down and pull on his pants and then Luke followed.

Once they were all dressed in their gear and boots Michael pulled the ramp down and Luke just stood there looking him up and down. He couldn’t get over how hot Michael looked in his gear and he watched Michael wheel his bike down the ramp before getting it to the ground. Luke hopped up and did the same to his bike and it had felt like years since he had done this.

“It’s a little sandy at the beginning of the track” Michael said looking back at the woods “But after that it’s pretty smooth…well as smooth as a track in the woods can be” Luke was smiling and biting his lip in excitement.

They both put their helmets and goggles on and hopped on their bikes and kick started them at the same time which made them exchange smiles. Michael just sat there examining the look on Luke’s face and he knew what was going to happen. Luke had this smirk on his face as he looked out into the woods then he was looking back at Michael.

“You aren’t gonna take it easy are you?” Michael yelled over the sound of the bikes, already knowing the answer. Luke smiled wide and shook his head.

“Not a chance” Luke said back confidently and Michael smirked at him and playfully pushed Luke’s helmet before zipping off without warning. Luke examined the beginning of the track a little longer before taking off behind Michael. Michael was right about the sandy part in the beginning but Luke escaped it with no problem.

He could see Michael only a few feet ahead of him and Luke doesn’t think he could ever get sick of seeing Michael ride. Luke had been racing motocross for years and he knows that Michael could leave them all in the dust. He felt so alive as he cut corners down the track with the tall pine trees passing them. It was very deserted out here but this time Luke didn’t feel nervous like he did in the desert; this time he had Michael right with him and the woods were a lot more different than the desert.

He watched Michael ahead of him go over a slight jump and land cleanly on the ground again then he was doing the same thing. He was reminded of all the time him and Cam went riding in the woods back in Florida. They always had to make it into some kind of race but Luke liked this better; just riding and not worrying who was going to come in first. He owed everything to Michael for getting him back into riding again. Michael could say a hundred times how much it was all Luke’s doing but Luke knows that if it wasn’t for Michael he would be currently sitting at home on the couch eating Cheeto’s. Sure at first Luke regretted going to the desert with Ashton but if he wouldn’t have done that then he wouldn’t have ever met Michael like he did. Another part of Luke feels like he would have became friends with Michael no matter what though. They were just meant to be together. He noticed that Michael kept looking back at him every few minutes and Luke got a fuzzy feeling in his stomach every time he did.  
*  
Luke wasn’t even sure how long they had been riding, he always lost track of time when he was on his bike, but it must have been at least an hour or so.  
Soon they were coming up to a slight clearing and he noticed Michael was slowing down so Luke did too. Luke looked to the right and blue water stretching across to more woods on the other side. He stopped completely behind Michael and they both were taking their head gear off. They both just stared out it in silence after they shut their bikes off and Luke was mesmerized by it all.

“This was the main reason I wanted to take you out here” Michael said slightly out of breath and Luke smiled wide.

“It’s fucking beautiful” Luke said breathlessly and he could see Michael smiling at him in the corner of his eye.

“Yeah I haven’t been here in years” Michael stretched his arms behind his head and then took a seat in the dark colored sand “It’s one of my favorite places though” Luke took in the sight of him for a few seconds as Michael stared off into the water while just holding his bottom lip between his teeth. He was then plopping down next to the boy and letting out a breath when he started to really feel how tired he was from riding; usually that small amount of riding wouldn’t wear him out but it’s just that he wasn’t used to it. He knew he would get back into the swing of things in no time though.

“How’d you find out about this place?”

“My dad” Michael said plainly, after a few seconds, and Luke could tell that Michael really didn’t like talking about his dad for some reason but he decided not to press him about it “Him and his buddies used to come out here every day cause my dad grew up in the town like 10 minutes north of here”

“It’s so different up here” Luke spoke while leaning back on his palms and he was really feeling the heat now as the sun came out from behind a cloud. The reflection of the sun looked amazing on the water though and he watched as the waves hit the shore.

“Good different?” Michael said, turning his head to look at the boy.

“Definitely” Luke smiled wide and it had Michael seeming like he was blushing a bit then he was looking down at the ground as he moved his foot in the sand.  
Suddenly Michael was getting out of his boots and sliding out of his pants quickly like he was in some major hurry.

“What’re you doing?” Luke chuckled.

“I wanna swim” Michael said simply then he was standing up, now in his boxers, as he slipped his chest gear and shirt off. Luke already missed seeing him with so little clothing on. He just stared up and down at the boy’s pale skin and then Michael was walking towards the water. Luke let out a laugh when Michael got up to the water and only stuck his foot in before jerking it back “Shit. It’s cold” the boy then started to slowly walk into the water then he was diving forward as he went under water.

He came back out of the water and shook his wet hair before looking to Luke “What’re you too wimpy to come join me, Hemmings?” and it had been so long since Michael had called him that but Luke kind of liked it now. Luke still remembers the first time that Michael called him by his first name and it made him so happy; it felt like Michael was finally considering him a friend…or in Luke’s case, more than a friend.

“I’m resting” Luke shouted back and it was true that he was still feeling achy and tired from the ride. Even from this distance he could see Michael roll his eyes though. When Michael went back under water Luke started to shimmy out of his boots and pants then got down to just his boxers as Michael was coming back up for air.

“Yeah…that’s what I thought” Michael smirked “Get your ass in here” and if anyone else were to boss him around like that Luke would probably be upset but he loved when Michael bossed him around; it was quite the turn on for him.

Luke was then running into the water causing Michael to laugh and he dove right in where Michael was swimming, almost hitting the boy. The water was cold but it felt so good on his overheating body and Luke felt so refreshed. He came back up and shook his wet hair right in Michael’s face but Michael still continued to smile at him. Luke melted into the touch when Michael put a hand through his hair and then he was leaning forward and softly kissing Luke’s lips, just barely touching him.

“Thanks for bringing me out here” Luke smiled and he didn’t know why he was feeling nervous.

“Thanks for coming out here” Michael said back with a smirk and Luke couldn’t help but lean forward and give him another kiss, this time he made it more heated though and Michael let out a breath into his mouth before diving forward again and sucking on Luke’s lower lip. Michael was then backing up and pressing a few kisses to his neck before facing Luke again “You know…I love this place even more now that you’re here with me” and Luke felt himself blushing as he smiled and looked down at the water.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Yeah…of course” Michael said easily.

“What did you think of me the first time you seen me? You know…in the desert”

“Haven’t we kind of already talked about this?” Michael chuckled.

“Kinda…just wanted to know what you thought after seeing me declining the chance to race someone”

“Shit…” Michael looked away and floated back in the water a bit “I don’t know, Luke…I guess I was surprised that you didn’t want to race him but obviously now I understand why you didn’t. I know I was a bit of dick to you but I just wanted to try and make myself not like you anymore”

“Why?” Luke said softly.

“I just never would have imaged that you wanted to ever be friends with me…let alone date me; just thought you were too good for me. It seemed too unreal and I didn’t want to get my hopes up so I tried acting like I didn’t like you so that maybe I could trick my brain or something…I don’t know” Michael was then letting out a breathy laugh but Luke felt bad that Michael ever though that “Clearly that didn’t work”

“But…do you still think I’m too good for you?” it scared Luke that Michael didn’t answer him right away but instead looked away from him quickly and started biting at his lip “Michael” Luke said softly.

“Yeah” Michael breathed out but he still wouldn’t look at Luke. Luke got closer to him and put one hand under his chin as he brought them into another kiss. Michael kissed him back like he wanted to savor every second of it.

“Well I’m not” Luke said sternly, against his lips “If anything you’re too good for me” and Michael rolled his eyes “It’s true. Everything you’ve’ done for me; you brought me back to something that I love and I won’t ever be able to thank you enough for that”

“You had it in you all along” Michael finally looked at him “You just needed a little push”

“I don’t think I did…You’re a lot stronger than me and I think it must have rubbed off on me” Michael smiled cutely as his flicked his eyes up to the sky “So thank you for that”

“Well I’m glad I could help” Michael smirked and Luke leaned forward to kiss him again. Michael was then looking to the bikes then back to Luke “Wanna race me back to the truck?” and Luke felt excitement run through him as he nodded. Somehow Michael always knew what he needed.

*

Michael had of course beaten Luke the truck and he even had the guts to show off and do a wheelie after the came off the track. Luke didn’t even feel bad about losing though. He just loving riding again and being out here with Michael.

“Not bad, Hemmings, not bad” Michael was smirking when he took off his helmet and goggles and put it in the back of the truck then Luke was doing the same.

“You make me look like such a shitty rider” Luke shook his head as he laughed.

“Are you forgetting who was the professional motocross racer here?”

“Still” Luke blushed “You could easily race if you wanted to”

“Well I don’t want to” Michael said sternly “Besides…I heard all those motocross racers are pricks” and Luke laughed at that.

“You’re so right” Luke smiled at him as they were both taking their shirts and chest gear off.

“Especially that Luke Hemmings kid” Michael grumbled and Luke couldn’t stop smiling “What a dick”

“Yeah he’s the worst” Luke tried not to laugh.

“He’s got such a nice ass though” Michael moaned out and Luke bit his lip.

“Y-yeah?” Luke couldn’t help but stutter at the way Michael was looking at him.

“Mhm” Michael looked away then started to take the tailgate down “Damn, I’d love to wreck it” and Luke felt his mouth falling open. He swore he was already getting hard but Michael spoke those words so casually while Luke was losing it.

When Luke still didn’t say anything Michael was taking a double look at him and then smirking wide like he knew what he was doing to Luke

“Have I said too much?” and Luke instantly shook his head “no” which earned another smirk from Michael. God, Luke just wanted to get to Michael’s house and hoped that Michael stayed true to his word.

*

Luke only made it a few steps into the house before Michael was pushing him against the wall and instantly kissing him fiercely. Luke kissed him back just as eagerly and was already rubbing his hands up Michael’s torso as Michael gripped hard on his neck and moved his hands into his hair. Michael was then taking a deep breath and going to suck bruise onto Luke’s collar bone.

“What-” Luke moaned out when Michael bit on his skin “Made you want me so bad?” and that had Michael moving up to his neck and sucking even more harshly at the skin.

“I always want you…” Michael’s voice came out sounding rough “But you know how much seeing you ride get’s me going” Michael chuckled and Luke grinding into him, making him moan instead. Michael seemed to be even more eager now and Luke yelped out in surprise when Michael threw him over his shoulder and started walking towards the stairs.

“Please don’t drop me” Luke laughed out as Michael started to climb the stairs.

“I’m not gonna drop you, Luke” Michael said like it was obvious and Luke knew he wouldn’t.

Soon they coming up to Michael’s doorway they were entering the dark bedroom. The only light was from an air freshener plugged in on the wall under the window. Michael was then setting Luke down on the bed softly and Luke watched as he bit his lip while Michael stripped out of his clothes right above him. It was then Luke’s turn to get naked and Michael helped him out of his shoes and pants before Luke threw his shirt over his head and then Michael was leaning over him, completely naked while Luke still had his boxers on.

They were just staring at each other as they breathed heavily and Luke was just now realizing what they were about to do; they were going to go all the way. Luke didn’t have any doubt about wanting to do it though. He trusted Michael.

“You sure you wanna do this?” Michael whispered and Luke was already nodding as he looked down an reached out a hand to start pumping slowly on Michael’s dick. Michael let his head fall at the touch, so that he was looking down on Luke’s chest, then he did a small whimper as he rocked into Luke’s hand.

“I’m really sure” Luke felt the need to vocalize his thoughts and it seemed to be enough for Michael to take things further. He was then lifting his head up and kissing Luke roughly again as Luke sped up his hand and then Michael was taking his hand off his dick and pinning it to the bed “You’re gonna make me come if you keep doing that” Michael smiled a bit then he was leaning over Luke and reaching in the drawer next to his bed.

He brought out a small tube and then a condom but Luke was taking it away from him and tossing it away from them which had Michael raising his eyebrows

“Don’t want you to have it on…want to feel everything” Luke said quietly then Michael was licking his lips as he nodded. He started to kiss Luke’s lips again as he began taking off the boys’ boxers and Luke felt the air being taken from him as Michael grinded their dicks together. Luke was already so close.

Michael decided to tease him for a little while longer though as he laid down on his stomach and started to lick stripes up and down Luke’s dick and then sucking harshly on the tip, causing Luke to buck up, just wanting more. Michael took his mouth completely off of Luke’s dick then he started to trail his tongue on Luke’s balls as he steadily went lower.

Luke started to shake and grip the sheets when Michael started giving his hole licks and then pressing a few open mouth kisses on it before pressing his tongue inside. It was such an amazing feeling and Luke felt like he could come just from Michael doing this.

“Mi-Michael…Oh fuck!” Luke cried out when Michael started to press his tongue further into him and moving it in a fast pace. Luke couldn’t help but grind down on his tongue as Michael pleasured him expertly, like always. Luke knew he was going to come soon though if Michael didn’t stop and he knew he wanted Michael to fuck him properly “Michael…Michael you gotta stop. I’m gonna come” Luke begged and Michael only seemed to fuck him with his tongue even faster “Please, M-Michael…I want you to fuck me” and that had Michael smiling against his hole as he finally took his tongue out and Luke was breathing heavily once he stopped.

“It’s okay baby” Michael rubbed at his lower stomach while reaching for the lube “I’m gonna fuck you so good” he said kissing his stomach and starting to lube the first finger up “Make you feel so good” Michael practically moaned out and Luke felt himself getting more turned on by the second “Ready?” Michael said looking up at him and Luke nodded quickly. He felt the coldness of the lube hit him first then there was a burning sensation as Michael slowly pushed the first finger in him. It was a bit uncomfortable but Luke could handle it.

Michael was being so slow and careful about it and Luke was glad for it. Michael started to pump a hand on Luke’s dick as he pushed the 2nd finger in and Luke let out a small whimper at the stretching. Michael started to kiss at his stomach softly as he still jerked him off and slowly rubbed the fingers inside of him.

By the time Michael had three fingers in him it was feeling so good that Luke was back to feeling like he was going to come at any moment. He was gripping on the sheets again as Michael’s fingers move quickly inside of him. Michael moved his mouth down to start sucking on the tip of Luke’s dick and Luke moaned loudly at all the different places that he felt good.

“I-I’m ready” Luke whimpered out and this time Michael only pumped his fingers in him a couple more times before he was pulling out slowly. Michael licked his lips as he looked down at Luke and started to rub lube on his dick and Luke almost came just from the way Michael was looking at him “Fuck I wanna feel you so bad” Luke moaned and then Michael was rubbing his tip on his hole in a circular motion that was driving Luke insane.

“M-Michael” Luke whimpered and then Michael was nodding.

“I’ve got you, baby”

Michael started to slowly push into Luke as he used his other hand to rub soothingly on Luke’s thigh and it really was helping with the pain. Luke squinted his eyes shut when Michael pushed in even more and he just felt so full down there.  
When Michael bottomed out he let out a breath and continued to rub a hand on Luke’s thigh.

“Sh-shit” Luke breathed out and he started to open his eyes and Michael was looking down fondly at him but Luke could tell he was trying so hard not to thrust forward with all the heat he felt around his dick. Luke swallowed hard and took a deep breath before nodding “Okay…I’m ready” Luke rubbed at Michael’s thigh to make sure he knew that he really meant it and then Michael was pulling out a little and pushing back in causing Luke to tense up in a good way.

Michael started to get a steady pace going and it was making Luke a moaning mess as he gripped hard on Michael’s thighs and occasionally dug his nails into the skin there. Michael was then leaning down and resting on his elbows, with his face only inches away from Luke’s as they both breathed heavily and then Michael was crashing their lips together as he sped up his pace and pushed even further into Luke causing Luke to cry out.

“Oh my god…fuck! Michael…fuck just like that” he moaned when Michael hit that certain spot that had him seeing stars. Luke started to rub his hands up Michael’s back as the boy continued to thrust hard, hitting him in that special spot every time and Luke knew he was close; he could feel the pleasure building up in his lower stomach as he started to shake.

“You feel so fucking good baby” Michael moaned into his neck and his voice only brought Luke even closer “So good for me”

“Michael…Michael I’m gonna” Luke mumbled into hair as he couldn’t even get his voice to go any louder with how good he felt. Michael started to do slow but hard thrusts into him now as the he groaned out into Luke’s neck and reached one hand up to grip at Luke’s hair. It was that that had Luke coming all over their stomachs and then Michael was moaning out loudly as he lifted his head up to start kissing Luke’s lips again. He let out curse words into Luke’s mouth as it was mainly them just breathing into each other mouths but Luke loved it as he was still coming down from his orgasm.

Soon Michael was coming as well and letting out loud whimpers as he licked and kissed at Luke’s mouth. Luke was still breathing heavily as they were coming down from their highs and Luke wrapped his arms around Michael’s back and held him tight.

Luke fell asleep to the feeling of Michael’s soft kisses on his neck and it was without a doubt the best way to fall asleep.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHH okay so I know this took me a million years to update like I'm such a bitch but let me explain. So I had over half of this chapter written but then my computer broke without warning and I lost it all. I was so bummed about that but last night idk what got into me but I wrote this whole 7k chapter in one sitting and honestly it's way better than the first time I wrote it so I hope you guys forgive me and enjoy this cause I'm pretty proud of myself. Hopefully I can go back to updating this regularly even though I'm currently writing two other fics but there will probably be only be one more chapter after this so I should be able to do it

_Luke could feel his heart beating all over his body as he tapped his fingers on the arm of the cold hospital chair. He began to look around the room and his eyes fell on the hospital bed; a bed that was identical to the one he was bedridden in after the accident had first happened. He shivered at thinking of how much emotional and physical pain he had been in when it first happened._

_He knew he had to stop thinking about that though because he was almost coming to the end of this awful time in his life and soon he would be free again; free to walk again and free to live his life._

_Luke felt his mothers hand on his shoulder right then, as if she knew what was going through his mind right now but not even his mothers comforting hand could stop Luke from worrying about what would be happening soon._

_Of course his brain was wired to instantly think of all the bad things that could happen today like what if he tried to walk and they just told him straight up that he would never be able to walk again? Luke had to take a few deep breaths to calm his nerves because he was actually convinced that he would end up having a panic attack if he didn't stop his brain from thinking of all of the awful things that might happen today._

_Nervousness quickly turned into anxiousness and anger when 10 more minutes went by and the doctor still hadn't walked into the room yet. They were told to be here at 9am sharp and Luke realized that it was the doctor that was late now and he thought that was just ridiculous; especially since this was such a huge day for Luke. He had waited long enough to walk again so he didn't want to wait another second._

_Luke's eyes snapped up when he seen the door opening but his face fell when he seen a younger girl walking in instead of his doctor. He was really starting to lose his patience._

_"Hello Luke I'm Lynn and I will be the one helping you out today" she said in a soft voice like most nurses had "Doctor Reaume had to go into an emergency surgery so he couldn't be here this morning. I hope that will be okay"_

_"Fine" Luke said in a harsh voice but he was so done with waiting "I don't care as long as I get to walk"_

_The nurse seemed to be surprised at Luke's tone but she nodded then she was stepping closer to Luke and kneeling down in front of him._

_"I just have to check a few things before we get started okay?" she said and Luke just quickly nodded, wanting to get all of this extra stuff over with._

_After she tapped on Luke's knees and tested a few of his muscles in his back she was standing up again and Luke started to get his nervousness back, knowing by her smile what was going to come next._

_"Alright, Luke. Everything seems to be good. You ready to takes some steps?" she said backing up and putting her hands out._

_Luke stared down at his legs for a few seconds then he felt his mother rubbing at his shoulder again._

_"You're going to be fine Luke" his mother said and then he was nodding; he began to wonder why he was being such wimp right now. He has waited so long for this._

_Without thinking or worrying anymore Luke grabbed the nurses hands and slowly she began to pull him up._

_Luke felt his whole face breaking into a smile like it used to on Christmas morning and it felt so strange to be standing again but it felt so good and he swears he forgot what it was like to be this happy._

_"Do feel alright, Luke? Are you feeling any pain?" the nurse asked in a very concerned tone but Luke shook his head._

_"No" Luke laughed happily "No, I feel great"_

_"You can try taking a step whenever you're ready"_

_Luke already felt ready so he was taking his first step and the nurse was taking a step back to give him more room._

_The first step he wobbled a little bit but he knew that was to be expected._

_His second step though he felt more sturdy and he couldn't stop smiling._

_Soon the nurse was taking her hand from Luke's and Luke began walking all by himself; he couldn't believe how happy he was that the nightmare was finally over with. He was free._

*

Luke didn't know how long he just sat there at the foot of his bed and stared at the closet that was opened. It was the morning of Cam's race in California so of course he was thinking hard about his past more so than other days.

He finally stood up and walked over to the closet though and bent down to drag one of the boxes out of it. He looked closely at the few trophies that were on top and he let out a sigh before picking the box up and bringing it to the other side of the room.

He took each of them out one by one and read all of them before he was placing them on the shelf that was next to the window.

He smiled to himself when there was almost not enough room for them all on the long shelf and he realized that Michael had been right; he shouldn't had just left them in a box at the bottom of his closet.

After standing there and really thinking he knew he had to stop being scared. He had already made such a huge step by getting on a bike again but he knew that going to the track that he had his accident at was the next step. He also knew that the only way he would be able to do that is if Michael was by his side.

Luke walked back over to his bed and grabbed his phone and quickly called Michael before he lost his the courage to do this.

"Luke?" Michael instantly said when he picked up and his voice was all tired and rough sounding. Luke felt bad when he saw that it was still pretty early.

"M' sorry I woke you up, Michael"

"It's fine, Luke. Are you okay?" Michael didn't at all sound mad but he did sound concerned and Luke felt himself smiling; Michael was so sweet.

"Yeah I'm great actually" Luke smiled and he could hear Michael moving on the other end of the phone "Do you wanna go to the Glen Helen race with me today?" and he heard Michael take a deep breath in. Luke was surprised himself at choosing to go to the track instead of watching the race on TV so he didn't blame Michael for his silence.

"Shit, yeah I will, Luke but are you sure you're ready for this?"

"Yeah. I'm positive" Luke said confidently.

"God this is awesome" and Luke smiled wide at how excited Michael was "Well if you're ready I can be by in a couple of minutes and we can leave cause I know the race will be starting soon"

"Yeah...yeah I'm ready" and Luke meant that in more ways than one.

"Okay, I'll be over in a little bit, bub"

"Okay see you then"

"Oh and Luke?" Michael said a bit nervously.

"Yeah?"

"I'm really proud of you" and Luke felt his cheeks heating up as he couldn't stop smiling.

"Thanks, Michael"

*

When Luke heard Michael come in the front door he was still upstairs putting on his black KTM shirt and then fixing his hair a bit after he fixed his shirt around his shoulders.

"Knock knock" Michael said with a chuckle and Luke turned around to see the boy leaning against the doorway as he crossed his arms and smiled.

Luke didn't say anything back and instead smiled before he was walking over to the boy and wrapping his arms tightly above his shoulders. He felt Michael wrap his arms around his back and Luke could smell the faintness of Michaels cologne and he closed his eyes.

"I don't think I could do this without you" Luke mumbled into his neck and he felt Michael rubbing a hand up and down his back.  
  
"I'll be right there with you" Michael said pressing a kiss to Luke's temple "And hey you'll get to see Cam so you've got that to look forward to"

Luke nodded and made himself step away from Michael a little bit so he could look at him.

"You're right" Luke practically glowed at thinking about Michael meeting Cam and vice versa "I can't wait for you to meet him"

"Well if you like him then I will too" Michael said ruffling Luke's hair then Luke watched as Michael's eyes drifted to something behind him then the boys smile was wearing off "Luke" he said breathlessly and Luke got worried and hurried up to turn around.

His eyes landed on his trophies that he had just taken out of his closet and he smiled.

"You put your trophies up" Michael spoke out loud.

"Yeah. I realized once again that you were right. There was no point in keeping them hiding"

"Come on" Michael said chuckling and then grabbing Luke's hand before pulling him out into the hall "Let's go before I get all emotional"

*

Luke realized that as soon as they started getting close to the track he began to get nervous again and he leaned his head against the window. He smiled to himself when he remembered the very first time he was in Michael's truck and he was holding a bunch of napkins to his nose.

"What's funny?" Michael suddenly said with a laugh and Luke hadn't even realized that he laughed out loud.

"I was just thinking of the first time that I was in your truck and you threw napkins at me saying that you didn't want me getting blood all over your seat" Luke laughed again then he was turning his head to look at Michael who was looking fondly at him "You've always been such a romantic"

"I try" Michael smirked before looking back to the road.

Luke watched as Michael's smile began to fade a bit and Luke was about to ask what was wrong but then Michael was speaking first.

"Do you think Cam will like me?" he asked actually sounding so insecure and Luke frowned.

"Of course. He'd be crazy not to" Luke spoke "Plus he knows how much you mean to me"

At the last thing that Luke said he seen Michael blush and hide his face in his shirt a bit.

Michael was then grabbing Luke's hand that was on his own lap and intertwining their fingers on the middle console and it was like magic as all of Luke nerves seemed to disappear. Michael was just special like that.

*

Michael and Luke were still holding hands as they pulled onto the all too familiar road that lead to the track and Luke could hear dirt bikes as they got closer.

He felt Michael squeezing his had and Luke looked over to see the boy giving him a soft and reassuring smile and Luke just knew that everything would be okay as long as he had Michael with him; and Michael was right, he would be getting to see Cam soon and he couldn't wait. It had felt like years since he had seen his best friend.

As they were pulling into the dirt driveway there was only a couple of cars waiting in line in front of them. The race would be starting soon so most people wouldn't be coming here at such last minute. Luke didn't care if he got a good spot or not though; as long as he got to see Cam ride.

Plus Cam had no idea that Luke was actually going to be here so Luke couldn't wait to see his surprised face.

When it came time for them to pull up to the small brick building where a man was standing outside with a clipboard Luke felt himself getting nervous again.

"Just two" Michael said straight away after he rolled his window down and the man was approaching the car. Luke was looking out his window at all of the people walking around and he could faintly see the track from here. Just the little bit of it that he could see was making him shake but he knew he had to see it eventually so he didn't look away and instead made his eyes stay on it.

Luke could see Michael handing over money in the corner of his eye and he quickly looked away from the track as he began to pull out his wallet; feeling bad that Michael was paying for him too.

"Michael I can pay for mine" he said quickly and Michael just shook his head and smiled.

"I've got it"

Luke watched the man turning back to Michael with two wristbands and then the man just happened to look inside the car and Luke almost groaned as he quickly turned away. He knew he would be recognized but he didn't think it would happen this soon.

"Luke Hemmings?" the man said and Luke felt Michael looking at him "Guys look Hemmings is here!"

Luke looked back out Michael's window to see two other middle aged men walking towards the truck and they were both squinting to see Luke; Luke now knew how fish in fishbowls felt like and he hated it.

"Holy shit" another man said as he leaned down to look at Luke "You racing today?" and Luke thought that the answer would have been obvious since he didn't have any gear on and there was no bike in the back but these men still looked so curious.

"Um no" Luke tired to smile "Just here to watch"

"Well it's great to see you back here, Luke!" the man with the clipboard said and then Luke was nervously nodding, just wanting to drive away and Michael must have sensed this.

"Alright take it easy, guys" Michael said then then he was driving forward and and Luke let out a breath "You alright?"

"Yeah" Luke nodded "I guess I better get used to that" and Michael chuckled a bit as he searched out a parking spot.

It was of course packed like all pro races were but Michael managed to squeeze into a spot that next to a concession stand.

Luke remembers how he was never allowed to eat the yummy smelling concession stand food when he was racing because he was on a strict diet and he had to stay in shape but honestly there was nothing stopping him now and he smiled.

"Give me your arm real quick" Michael said and then Luke was putting his arm on the middle console so Michael could put the wrist band on Luke then he was putting his own on.

"Can we uh" Luke looked over to the concession stand and then back to Michael "Can we get something at the concession stand before we find a spot to stand?"

"Yeah of course" Michael said smiling and getting out of the car. Luke was then doing the same then he was walking side by side with Michael "You hungry?"

"Kinda. I've just never gotten to eat at the concession stands before" and then Luke felt Michael looking at him.

"Never?" Michael raised his eyebrows.

"Never. I had to stay in shape"

"Oh, Lukey" Michael said before chuckling a bit.

When they were getting to the concession stand Luke saw so many things on the menu that looked good that he couldn't even decide.

"What're you getting?" Luke asked as he tried to stop himself from looking around too much. He had to relax a bit.

"Frozen chocolate Cheesecake on a stick" Michael said casually as they stepped up in the line then he was telling the young boy at the concession what he wanted.

"Sometimes America worries me" Luke said as he thought about how fattening Michael’s choice sounded.

Luke was then squinting at the menu one more time before he decided what to get.

"I will have a pizza slice" Luke said but he didn't expect Michael to scoff at him.

"Oh, come on" Michael laughed as he looked at Luke "Thats such a cop out. You can get pizza anywhere" Michael was then looking to the kid at the concession stand "Don't get him the pizza"

"Fine. What would you suggest?" Luke said as he smirked at Michael.

Michael was then smirking back and looking at the boy taking their order.

"He will have the deep fried Oreo" Michael said then he was looking to Luke with a bit of concern "You like Oreo's right?" and Luke nodded.

They stepped to the next window and then they were both taking their food. Luke scowled at his own though because it really didn't look too appetizing.

"Try it" Michael said in some song like voice but Luke shook his head "Fine try mine first then" and then Michael was waving his food in Luke's face.

"That smells like diabetes" and Luke's words had Michael tossing his back and laughing as he scrunched his eyes closed and Luke got lost in how beautiful he is.

"Come on, Luke" Michael said after calming down "Just try one bite of the Oreo. If you don't like them I will eat them"

Luke finally surrendered and he was bringing the Oreo that was surrounded by batter up to his mouth.

He felt himself widening his eyes afterwards.

"Good huh?" Michael smiled and Luke just nodded as he took another bite and finished that one off.

Luke looked up to see Michael taking a bite of his own food then he was rolling his eyes back and Luke felt himself giggling.

"Mhm. God bless America" Michael smiled before taking another bite.

Luke and Michael began walking as they ate and Luke found himself not wanting to make eye contact with too many people but he knew he had to stop being so nervous. People would recognize him no matter what so he tried to relax.

He looked over to see Michael taking bites of his cheesecake as he looked around, searching somewhere for them to stand and then Luke was spotting an area near the fence that was completely empty.

"What about right there?" Luke shouted a bit to be heard over the loud PA system and some bikes starting.

Michael was looking at the spot that Luke was pointing at with as smile but it went away as fast as a flame and Luke felt his stomach drop.

"Michael?" Luke said concerned and he put a hand on Michael's arm as he stepped closer.

He could see Michael just shaking his head as he looked at the spot then Luke was turning around to look at it and he felt like such an inconsiderate idiot.

The spot was right at the fence and it was perfectly inline with the hill that Luke had crashed on. It was where Michael had been standing when he watched Luke crash.

"Fuck, Michael" Luke said in a worn out tone as he wrapped one arm around Michael's back and then he was leaning his forehead on Michael's temple for a few seconds before looking at him again "I didn't even notice it. Fuck, I'm so sorry"

He watched as Michael shook his head like he was physically shaking a feeling away then he was looking at Luke.

"It's okay. I just don't wanna stand there" he said in a weak tone and Luke nodded; of course being understanding.

"No, of course not. Let's find somewhere else" Luke said grabbing Michael's hand and he felt the boy squeezing his hand.

They walked in silence for a few seconds and it was as if Luke could slowly feel Michael becoming less tense then Michael was stopping and standing in front of Luke.

"I'm sorry for freaking out back there" Michael spoke and this time it was with his normal voice, not the scared one.

"No, it's okay" Luke said quickly "I would have been the same way"

"It's just that I'm the one that is supposed to be being strong for you and making sure you're okay" Michael said sadly like he felt bad for showing emotions back there.

"Michael" Luke said softly as he shook his head "The only reason that I'm not totally freaking out right now is because you're here with me, okay? You're helping me just by coming here"

Michael was then smiling but it turned into a full on grin and Luke felt butterflies in his tummy as Michael began to lean forward.

"You're pretty great, you know that?" Michael said as he was close to kissing Luke.

"Luke fucking Hemmings!" a voice made Luke jump and he hated how their nice moment had to be ruined.

Michael gave Luke a soft smile then he was backing away and Luke let out an annoyed sigh before looking to where he heard the voice come from.

He seen one guy walking his way with all of his gear on minus his helmet and goggles and Luke actually felt himself smiling at bit at seeing him; it had been too long.

"Of all places I can't believe I'm seeing you here, Luke" Merritt said as he approached them.

"Well, I'm here" Luke chuckled he shrugged.

Merritt was then grinning widely with his perfect teeth before he was slapping hands with Luke and bringing him into a half hug.

"Oh this is Michael" Luke said looking over at him.

"Merritt. Good to meet ya" Merritt said in his usual friendly voice before shaking his hand and Michael just nodded and smiled "Does Cam know that you're here?" Merritt said looking back a Luke.

"No" Luke chuckled "I was planning on surprising him"

"Yeah if he hasn't already found out that you're here" Merritt said then Luke was giving him a confused look "I've heard from like 5 different that you were here" he chuckled and Luke knew he should have seen that coming.

Suddenly the guy on the PA system was speaking, saying that the heat races were starting soon, and then Luke seen Merritt reaching out to pat him on the shoulder.

"We should catch up sometime, Hemmings" Merritt said and Luke just nodded, even though he knew Merritt was way to busy.

Merritt was then looking at Michael with a smile.

"Nice meeting you, Michael" the bleach blond boy said then he was smirking at Luke before sending his a wink and Luke huffed out a chuckle.

Merritt was then turning around and Luke just shook his head with a smile on his face.

"What was that about?" Michael laughed, referring to the way Merritt winked at him.

"Merritt knows were together" Luke smiled "He has always had a strange way of sensing that kind of stuff"

"Well I don't think I'm exactly subtle" Michael laughed and then Luke was leaning into him with a smile. Michael put an arm around him then they were walking again.

  
*

When they finally found an up close spot by the fence they were both done with their food and Luke knew he would want to get more before they left; he just couldn't believe that he lived that long without having a deep fried Oreo.

The heat races were starting and Luke immediately began scanning all of the riders for his best friend as they were lined up.

Luke began to chew on his lip as he thought he looked at all the riders and he still didn't see Cam.

"You see him yet?" Michael asked as he seemed just as impatient to find him that Luke did.

"No" Luke said not taking his eyes off the riders then he seen one rider coming forward and Luke smiled wide; he knew that helmet anywhere "Wait there he is!" Luke said pointing to Cam then he knew he had to elaborate "See the one with the orange helmet that has black smiley face stickers all over it?"

"Uh..." Luke looked over to see Michael moving his eyes all over, trying to search him out then his eyes widened "Oh yeah! I see him" and Luke felt so excited as he bounced up and down a bit. Even though he couldn't see Cam's face he still felt so close to him and he honestly couldn't wait until the race was over so he could see him for real.

The race was starting and Michael and Luke were both holding onto the fence as they watched closely and at first Luke knew he was a nervous wreck but now that the race was starting he felt so good to be back and he could almost picture himself out there on his bike.

The riders were all close together when the race first started, as always, but then some were speeding up and others seemed to be falling behind as they got further down the track.

Luke was so happy to see that Cam was towards the front of the riders and Luke could already tell that he was doing good as he took all of the turns with ease.

The more Luke watched his best friend the more he began to wonder how the hell he always beat him because Cam seemed to be way better than Luke remembers himself being.

"He's doing great" Michael suddenly said and Luke smiled when he realized that Michael had been watching Cam too.

"Hell yeah he is" Luke said, not being able to control his excitement.

They were getting towards the end of track and with how excited Luke was he forgot how close they were to the jump; the jump that almost killed him.

So Luke didn't even notice it when Cam was going up the hill.

It hit him suddenly when he watched Cam flying through the air as he did a tail whip and Luke looked down to see the jump that he dreaded so much.

Luke quickly tore his eyes away and looked at his feet as he tried to steady his breathing but all he could think about was the pain he felt when he had landed on the ground. He could remember how badly it hurt just like it was yesterday and he squinted his eyes shut as he let out a whimper.

When he seemed to be coming back to reality he could feel Michaels hand rubbing through the back of his hair and he let out a breath.

"You're okay, baby. You're okay" Michael kept repeating and Luke was so thankful for it; so thankful for Michael.

He then felt Michael putting soft kisses to his cheek and temple and Luke felt himself relaxing so much more as he was focusing on Michael.

"Fuck" Luke said after calming down "I could feel it" Luke said rubbing at his back "I swear I could feel the pain from the accident"

"It's over, Luke" Michael said softly as he brought Luke into a hug and Luke instantly hugged him back "Are you sure you're okay?" Michael spoke into Luke's hair.

"Yeah...I am" Luke promised "Because of you" and he felt Michael pulling away from him and then smiling widely at him.

Michael pressed a kiss to his lips then his cheek before he was putting a arm around him and they were facing the track again.

Luke knew for sure he wouldn't have made it through that without Michael.

*

After the heat races Luke was getting so excited for the actual races to start and him and Michael were standing up, after resting their feet a bit, as they focused on the riders lining up once again.

This was it and it felt so strange to Luke be on the other side of the fence this time.

If it was last year he would be inside the fencing as adrenaline raced through his veins while he was sitting on his bike.

Him and Cam always did this thing as they were lined up where they would lean forward and nod at each other no matter how far away they were in the line and Luke would be lying if he said he didn't miss it.

His life had changed so much but he was glad for it because he wouldn't had ever met Michael if his life would have stayed the same and Luke knew he was never as happy as he was now back when he didn't have the boy by his side.

Luke looked over at Michael right then and quickly looked to the track again before he was looking back at Michael and smiling. He watched the way Michael was pressing his lips together as he waited for the race to start.

"What?" Michael chuckled and Luke just shrugged.

"Nothing" he smiled wider then he was leaning into Michael.

Both of them whipped their head back to the track though when the race started and Luke swear he still felt that adrenaline as he watched the riders go around the first curve.

He could easily spot Cam once again and he felt happiness run through him as Cam took first place and the crowd went nuts as the cheering was even louder than the sound of the bikes. Michael and Luke were cheering loudly too and Luke just felt so happy being here and cheering on his best friend from the sidelines for once.

Luke was paying such hard attention to the race that he didn't even feel panicky when they went over The Jump and he felt Michael looking over at him with a worried stare on him but then Luke just looked at him and smiled. He was totally okay and he knew it was all thanks to Michael.

Michael was returning the smile then they were both looking towards the track again but Luke still felt a fluttery feeling in his stomach as Michael rubbed softly at his back, just letting Luke know that he was there if he needed him. Luke couldn't stop smiling.

  
*

It was no surprise when Cam won the race and Michael and Luke were both jumping up and down as he finished the race and Luke swore he felt so happy for his friends win that it had felt like he had won the race himself. He was just so proud of his best friend and he regretted all of the other races he missed, even if they were out of the state.

Soon Luke and Michael were walking through the crowd of people and heading towards the pit where all the riders were and Luke just couldn't wait to see Cam and congratulate him. He swears he felt like a proud parent in this moment.

They made it to the fencing that surrounded the pit area and Luke could see a man standing by the entrance which made him a bit nervous.

Back when he was racer of course he had no problem getting into the pits but now he wasn't even wearing his gear and he was afraid that they wouldn't let him in and he would have to wait longer to see Cam.

They walked up to the man that seemed to be guarding the entrance to the pit and Luke thought that he would just be able to walk right past him but the man was staring him down and Luke swallowed hard before he spoke.

"Um, I'm here to see a friend of mine. He's a racer"

"Are you a racer?" the man said back with a scary deep voice and Luke almost said yes but then he was shaking his head.

"No but-"

"Then you're not getting in, kid" he said sternly then he was looking elsewhere.

"Listen he just wants to see his best friend" Michael chipped in and Luke softly smiled at the boy.

"Yeah that's what they all say" the man said back with a laugh and now he was just plain out mocking them and Luke tensed his jaw.

Luke was just about to turn around but then he heard a familiar voice and he whipped his head up.

"Hey!" came the upset voice from behind the fence "Do you know who this is?" Merritt said looking at the scary man and the man just scowled at him "This is Luke fucking Hemmings and he's won more trophies than you would even know what to do with. Now let him in"

Luke had to suppress a laugh when the scary man started to look like a kicked puppy instead.

Soon the man was opening the gate as he kept his head down and didn't say a word.

Luke and Michael both stepped into the pit area and Luke heard Michael laugh as he looked at the man.

"Sorry" Merritt said straight away to Luke "I think he's new"

"It's okay" Luke said, still not able to wipe the smile off of his face "Thanks for that. I don't know what I would have done if I couldn't see Cam" and Merritt just smiled back at him and nodded.

They were walking past all of the riders and Luke would smile every time someone hit him on the shoulder or called out his name; it just felt like being home.

"Well, there's your boy" Merritt said as he smiled at Luke then he was pointing out ahead of them and Luke followed where he was pointing.

He could see Cam sitting leaning against his bike as he chugged down a water and all he had left on from racing were his pants and his boots that were unbuckled.

Luke sort of thought he looked different, his hair was longer and going past his ears now, but the same time he looked the same and Luke couldn't look away from him.

"I'll leave you to it" Merritt said then Luke was looking at him.

"Thanks again, Merritt" and then the boy was gone.

Luke looked to Michael but the boy was looking at Cam too.

"You ready to meet him?" Luke asked and all Michael did was smile and nod, still not looking away from Cam.

Luke started walking and Michael was quick to follow as they only walked the few steps to get to Cam.

"Hell of a race out there, bud" was the first thing Luke said as he smiled and the Cam was moving his head fast to the right to look at Luke.

"Holy shit" Cam said in shock then his whole face was lighting up and he was fast walking towards Luke and instantly wrapping his arms around his neck. Luke laughed and held him just as tight.

Cam was then backing up so he could look at Luke then he was just staring at him like he hadn't seen him in years.

"Holy shit, I can't believe you're here I mean I heard that you were but I wasn't sure if it was true or not and I didn't want to get my hopes up" Cam was talking so fast and Luke just couldn't keep the smile off his face.

"Yeah it was kind of last minute" Luke said rubbing the back of his neck and for some reason feeling a bit shy. It had just felt like so long since they had seen each other.

"Fuck, I'm so glad you're here" Cam shot out fast as he laughed then he was giving Luke a quick hug again.

"Yeah me too. You killed it out there, Cam you really did" Luke said in a proud voice and he could see Cam blushing a bit as he looked down.

"Thank you" Cam said then his eyes were flicking somewhere else and he was smiling wide.

"Shit" Luke chuckled then he was looking at Michael who was standing there with his hands in his pockets "Cam this is Michael"

"Nice to finally meet you" Cam said reaching out to shake his hand and Michel was quick to shake it.

"You too man" Michael smiled and Luke was just fondly looking at the both of them. They were two of the most important people in his life and there were finally meeting.

"How long you staying in California?" Luke asked.

"Just the weekend" Cam said back then he was smiling again "I hope you still remember our deal about me bunking with you while I'm here"

"Of course" Luke laughed "I wouldn't let you stay anywhere else"

"Listen I gotta get packed up and shit so where did you guys park?" Cam spoke as he put a hand through his damp hair.

"By the west entrance. It's a black truck" Luke answered "We can wait for you on the tailgate"

"Yeah then I can just follow you guys back to your house"

"Sounds good" Luke said but he really wasn't ready to leave Cam just yet, even if he knew he would be seeing Cam very soon anyways.

Luke felt so giddy as he walked through the pit again with Michael and he just couldnt wait to spend some time with Cam and he wanted to see how him and Michael interacted also.

"God, I'm so glad I came here today" Luke breathed out as they were just now exiting the pit.

"Me too" Michael said putting an arm around Luke and bringing the boy into his chest. Luke melted into it and leaned up to give Michael a kiss on the cheek.

"Luke! Luke!" he heard a woman yelling and Luke looked to where it came from to see a young woman with a microphone and a guy with a big camera behind her. Luke let out a sigh because he really just wanted to go home.

"Luke hi!" she said once she got closer "Candice with ESPN. You remember me right? I interviewed you after both of your championship wins"

"Yeah...yeah of course" Luke lied. He had so many interview throughout the years that he would have to have the best memory in the world to remember them all.

"Oh great!" she was then fixing her hair a bit and Luke knew what was coming next "Do you mind if we get a quick interview?"

"I don't know" Luke mumbled, not really being too sure about it.

"Just a quick one...for old times sake" she was then smiling and if Luke didn't know any better he swore the lady was flirting with him.

Luke looked over to Michael and the boy just shrugged as he was smiling and Luke let out a sigh.

"Okay...just a quick one" and Luke barely got the words out before Candice was actually jumping in excitement.

"Okay" Candice said standing by Luke as they both faced the camera and Luke felt weaker the second that Michael stepped away from him to stand on the side but he looked over and the boy gave him a reassuring smile "In three....two...one" Luke was then hurrying to look back at Candice.

"I'm here with Luke Hemmings, two time champion motocross racer, at Glen Helen in California where just a year ago a crash here almost costed him his life" and Luke cringed at that even though he knew she would bring it up "Tell me, Luke, what brought you back here?"

Luke took a deep breath before speaking and pretended that the camera wasn't even there. Interviews never made him nervous before so he didn't know what was wrong with him.

"Well I just came here to see my good friend Cam race and just to catch up with everyone else" he said simply.

"Do you miss racing? And do you think you will ever do it again?"

Just a month ago Luke was sure that he would never even get on a bike again but then he met Michael and all of that changed so he had no clue what else was in store for him.

"I miss it yeah and I could easily race again. I'm still young so I've got plenty of time to figure it out you know"

"Well I know everyone would love to see you racing again. Do you think its possible that you will be back out there next season?"

"It's possible" Luke laughed then he was shrugging. Luke was then looking over at Michael and the boy was smiling fondly at him and Luke just decided to go for it "I've got one hell of a boyfriend who is always pushing at me to do better so anything is possible honestly"

Luke could feel Michael's shocked eyes on him but he just smirked then he was looking at Candice.

"Well we wish you the best, Luke and we hope to see you out there next season" Candice ended the interview and Luke was already starting to walk away "Thanks again, Luke! I think you just got me a promotion"

Luke just chuckled at her before he was walking back over to Michael who had his mouth slightly open.

"You alright?" Luke laughed then Michael seemed to shake himself out of it.

"Yeah...yeah I'm good" Michael spoke quickly and Luke just laughed again before he was leaning forward and pecking Michael on the lips a couple of times.

"You're incredible, you know that?" Michael said with a serious face as Luke still stood close to him.

"Not as incredible as you" Luke said back with just as much honesty then Michael was laughing and shaking his head.

"Hemmings, you're too much sometimes" and Luke knew he meant that as a compliment. Luke leaned into Michael as the boy put an arm around him and they headed towards the exit.


End file.
